City Council
City Council
Mon, August 3, 2026
Agenda items
Vote records
Discussion summary
Transcript
Meeting summaryAI-generated
Charlottesville City Council — August 3, 2026
This was a regular City Council meeting, notable for a substantial work session on the ANCHOR co-response team and homeless services, significant public comment on the Free Bridge encampment closure, and a major vote to allocate $4 million for emergency shelter and housing services. Mayor Wade was absent; Vice Mayor Natalie Oschrin presided. A quorum of four councilors was present.
Work Session: ANCHOR FY26 Annual Report
Deputy Director Hunter Smith of the Department of Human Services presented the ANCHOR team's annual report. ANCHOR is a co-response team pairing mental health professionals and peer support specialists with CIT-trained police officers and firefighters/EMTs, operating Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Key statistics: In FY26, ANCHOR served 239 unique neighbors (up from 222 in FY25), while total encounters declined — meaning the same people were being seen less frequently. Smith characterized this as a positive trend. The team shared case examples including helping a neighbor reduce repeated 911 calls through sustained follow-up, assisting a person carrying weapons in public to adopt safer behavior, and connecting multiple individuals to voluntary assessment at Region 10 or UVA Health.
Councilor Payne asked about after-hours capacity; Smith said evening and weekend demand exists but is significantly lower than daytime, and the team is not yet recommending expanded hours. An upcoming addition: one care navigator position, expected to start in January, modeled partly on Durham, NC's program, focused on short-term (0–90 day) intensive case management for high-utilizers. Councilor Fleisher asked about the relationship with the county's HEART team; Smith noted active collaboration including joint conference attendance in Dallas.
Work Session: Homeless Services Update — Free Bridge Encampment
Assistant City Manager Roman presented a two-week operational update on the Free Bridge and Zero East High encampments, with input from homelessness coordinator Misty Graves and outreach coordinator Jen (from the CoC assessment team).
Outreach: A point-in-time count captured 35 people; 38 total were assessed. Demographic data: roughly 65% White, 30% Black or African American, 5% Hispanic, average age 37. Geographic origins: approximately 40% from Charlottesville, 11% Albemarle, with the remaining majority from other Virginia localities or out of state. Fifty-four documented connections to services were made, including SNAP, healthcare, ID/vital records, and reentry support through Home to Hope. Assessment partners included PACHAM, UVA Health med students and nursing staff, the CVille ID and Haven ID teams, and Region 10.
Shelter planning: The city is targeting September 1 to open 2000 Holiday Drive as a low-barrier emergency shelter, with an identified potential operator (not yet formally contracted). Roman confirmed the plan now aims to keep Holiday Drive open continuously — not temporarily close it during winter PACHAM operations — by using sections of the 27,000 sq. ft. building while others are renovated. Cleanup of the encampment site will be handled by a separate contractor already engaged, with more extensive cleanup expected in September.
State funding: The $7 million awarded by the state through Senator Creigh Deeds is restricted to transitional housing and workforce solutions — not congregate emergency shelter. The city plans to send $3 million to the Salvation Army's Center of Hope capital campaign (on the August 17 agenda) and retain $4 million for transitional housing development.
Staffing expansion: DHS will post one program manager and two homelessness outreach specialist positions imminently to support field outreach and data collection citywide.
Councilor Payne pressed on whether the BRAC point-in-time count and outreach represents the first systemized effort at the encampment. Graves confirmed that prior to this initiative, only one BRAC outreach specialist had been covering the encampment, along with isolated partner visits — insufficient given the scale of need.
Public Comment — Community Matters
Sixteen speakers addressed the council, with the majority focused on the encampment closure.
Encampment residents and advocates were critical of the city's approach. Dennis Chambers, an encampment resident, said residents were not meaningfully consulted on the shelter design and that he and others do not intend to move to Holiday Drive as currently conceived. He said the city's media coverage of the encampment attracted more people and contributed to the problems that followed. Jennifer Grant, another encampment resident, listed unanswered questions about staffing, mental health training, storage, couple accommodations, elevator access, and bed type, and said residents would resist forced removal. Isis Newman, a daily visitor who described a close personal relationship with a resident who died earlier this year, challenged the city's stated rationale for closure and described her own experience of being victimized while unsheltered in an isolated location, arguing displacement increases danger rather than reducing it. Josh Epstein called the situation "a problem of your own making" and said the shelter plan was inadequate for those with pets, mental illness, or belongings. Donna Tietjen, speaking on trauma-informed care, noted that surveillance cameras, overnight police patrols with bright lights, and the uncertainty of displacement were already causing harm and driving people into their tents. Charlottesville law professor Anne Coughlin raised due process and constitutional concerns about criminalizing homelessness and warned of potential litigation.
Supporters of a slave auction block memorial from the Court Square Enslavement Memorial Group — including Jim McKinley Oakes, Heidi Bertaux, Jamie Knorr, and Mike Henrietta — again urged Council to place a slate plaque at 0 Park Street/East Jefferson Street marking the site of a documented slave auction block. They noted that descendant groups, NAACP members, and multiple community organizations support the project, that the recovered auction block is in city custody, and that advocacy has continued for 24 years. They asked to be placed on the August 17 agenda.
Jackie Keller of Preservation Piedmont warned of a pending federal effort to gut Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, eliminating public consultation requirements for federally involved projects, and urged the council to prepare to comment when the process opens.
Consent Agenda
The consent agenda was approved without discussion, covering: May 4 regular meeting minutes; $40,000 for the VDOE Summer Food Service Program (2nd reading); amendment to the Charlottesville Human Rights Ordinance (2nd reading); $425,000 CAHF grant to CRHA South First Street Phase 2 (2nd reading); zoning text and map amendments for 801 West Street Individually Protected Property designation (2nd reading); $204,017 in additional funds for the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail (1st reading); $63,000 for the Community Attention Youth Internship Program (1st reading); $45,330 in HOPWA grant funds (1st reading); and a $13,074.68 water/wastewater leak credit for CRHA.
Vote: 4–0
City Manager Report
Budget Director Chrissy Hamill announced that the city's AAA bond ratings were reaffirmed by both Moody's and S&P — a distinction the city has held since 1964 (S&P) and 1973 (Moody's). The city will sell approximately $26.5 million in bonds on August 18, closing September 9, to fund projects including Riverview Park improvements, fire station renovations, and other CIP items.
City Manager Sanders also reminded residents of active drought watch conditions, urging voluntary water conservation to avoid mandatory restrictions.
Public Hearing and Resolution: Lease to City of Promise — 708 Page Street
Downtown Strategy Manager Brenda Kelly presented a lease agreement for City of Promise to occupy the city-owned building at 708 Page Street (approximately 1,700 sq. ft.). The lease formalizes an arrangement that had existed informally; the city discovered no formal lease during a property inventory. Terms: $1/year in Year 1, rising to approximately $4,000/year with 3% annual increases thereafter, plus a new security deposit. The city retains responsibility for structural maintenance.
No public comment was offered.
Vote: Motion by Oschrin, seconded by Snook. 4–0.
Resolution: Airport Authority Legal Services Agreement
City Attorney John Maddox presented a new formalized agreement for the City Attorney's Office to provide legal services to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport Authority. The previous arrangement dated to the 1980s and had no written scope of services; the city had been receiving $25,000 annually — far below market value. The new agreement phases fees up from $75,000 in Year 1 to 1.25% and eventually 1.5% of the airport's annual operating budget (estimated at approximately $160,000/year). The city attorney emphasized that the City of Charlottesville remains his primary client and any conflict of interest would require the airport to seek outside counsel.
Vote: Motion by Snook, seconded. 4–0.
Resolution: $4 Million Allocation for Emergency Shelter and Direct-to-Housing Services
This was the most substantive item of the business session. City Manager Sanders presented a resolution to allocate up to $4 million from the CIP contingency fund for emergency sheltering and direct-to-housing initiatives. The CIP contingency currently holds approximately $16 million, with roughly $10 million earmarked for property acquisitions; this allocation would leave approximately $2.5 million unearmarked.
The shelter operator: Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), a nonprofit operating since 1984 with 16 locations across Arizona, has been invited to operate Holiday Drive. CASS was identified through a local connection. Their budget proposal is approximately $3 million to serve 120 people for 12 months in the first year. No formal contract has been signed; council is authorizing the funds to finalize negotiations. Two additional consultants — Community Solutions and Clutch Consulting — would support direct-to-housing services and technical assistance respectively, funded from the remaining approximately $1 million.
Key features of the plan: The emergency shelter would operate only on the first floor. Sanders confirmed plans for real beds (not cots or bunk beds), storage space, accommodation for couples, and pet-friendly policies — all consistent with CASS's existing model. Minor construction will be covered by local philanthropy, not this $4 million. Transit access improvements — a new bus stop near the facility — are underway. The city now expects to keep Holiday Drive open continuously, not close it during winter PACHAM operations as originally planned.
Ongoing funding challenge: Sanders acknowledged this is a one-time CIP draw. Annual operating costs of approximately $3 million will need to be identified through future budget cycles beginning October 1.
Vista 29 (80 units of permanent supportive housing) is on track to open November 1. Support Works plans to be on-site at Holiday Drive from day one to connect residents to those units as they become available.
Council voted to waive the second reading, requiring a four-fifths majority.
Vote: Motion by Oschrin, seconded. 4–0 (satisfying the 4/5 threshold with four members present).
Final Public Comment
Additional speakers largely reiterated concerns from the earlier comment period. Lydia Brunk urged the council to reconsider the September 1 deadline, which she noted the city itself set and could rescind. A speaker named Forest raised concerns about what happens to residents if the shelter is not ready by September 1, and called for greater transparency. Lizzie (who ceded time from another speaker) argued that the $3 million annual cost of a congregate shelter for 120 people is comparable to or greater than providing individual housing units and highlighted tiny house village models used in Bellingham, Washington ($1.2 million for 40 units). Laura Sergani, describing herself as a researcher, called the needs assessment process flawed and said funding should go directly to meeting needs identified by encampment residents rather than outside contractors.
Key Takeaways
$4 million approved for Holiday Drive shelter and housing services. Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) is the likely operator, targeting a September 1 opening for up to 120 people with real beds, storage, pet accommodations, and couple housing — but the contract is not yet finalized and ongoing annual funding (~$3M/year) has not been identified.
The city now plans to keep Holiday Drive open continuously rather than closing it seasonally, a significant shift from the original plan.
Encampment residents and advocates were unified in opposing forced displacement, raising concerns about shelter readiness, lack of meaningful consultation, trauma caused by current police and surveillance presence, and what happens to those who cannot or will not enter the shelter.
The slave auction block memorial at 0 Park Street has now been raised by advocates for 24 years; multiple speakers requested placement on the August 17 agenda, noting the recovered auction block is in city custody and descendant groups broadly support the project.
ANCHOR's co-response model is expanding with a new care navigator position planned for January, aiming to provide short-term intensive case management to reduce repeat 911 calls among the city's most high-need residents.
AI-generated summary from voice-to-text transcript. Not the official record. Verify important details with the source documents linked above.
What happened at this meeting
Report: ANCHOR FY 26 Annual Report
# ANCHOR FY 26 Annual Report Summary
Hunter Smith, Deputy Director of Department of Human Services, presented the ANCHOR team report, highlighting the collaborative efforts of fire, police, and mental health workers in responding to behavioral health and mental health-related 911 calls Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with success measured by minimizing criminal justice involvement and supporting voluntary hospitalizations. Staff presented successful case interventions demonstrating ANCHOR's effectiveness, such as dramatically reducing 911 calls for a resident with hallucinatory episodes and supporting safer behavior adoption in another case. Norman Dereese and Hunter explained that the referral process involves ECC dispatching calls to ANCHOR, on-scene police officer referrals, and Dr. Courtney Anderson, a clinician embedded in ECC, flagging mental health calls for direct referral. When Councilor Jen raised concerns about whether ANCHOR needs its own dispatch system, staff indicated they are pausing that decision pending further analysis with the HEART team. Staff clarified that while ANCHOR responds to active emergencies at encampments related to homelessness, their core function is limited to emergency crisis response, and expanding beyond 911 calls would reduce capacity for this essential service, with ongoing case management directed to other providers.
Hunter Smith, Deputy Director of Department of Human Services, presented the ANCHOR team report, highlighting the collaborative efforts of fire, police, and mental health workers in responding to behavioral health and mental health-related 911 calls Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with success measured by minimizing criminal justice involvement and supporting voluntary hospitalizations. Staff presented successful case interventions demonstrating ANCHOR's effectiveness, such as dramatically reducing 911 calls for a resident with hallucinatory episodes and supporting safer behavior adoption in another case. Norman Dereese and Hunter explained that the referral process involves ECC dispatching calls to ANCHOR, on-scene police officer referrals, and Dr. Courtney Anderson, a clinician embedded in ECC, flagging mental health calls for direct referral. When Councilor Jen raised concerns about whether ANCHOR needs its own dispatch system, staff indicated they are pausing that decision pending further analysis with the HEART team. Staff clarified that while ANCHOR responds to active emergencies at encampments related to homelessness, their core function is limited to emergency crisis response, and expanding beyond 911 calls would reduce capacity for this essential service, with ongoing case management directed to other providers.
Report: Homeless Services Update 5:30 PM Closed Meeting (if called) 6:30 PM Business Session
# Homeless Services Update Summary
Staff presented a comprehensive homeless services update addressing the encampment closure and transition to shelter services. Key data showed the HEART crisis response team decreased repeat encounters (from 2.0 to 1.75 per person) while serving more individuals, though staff acknowledged gaps in analyzing demographic trends, particularly a 20% increase in female encounters, and noted concerns about overlapping service category definitions requiring further investigation using the Gelata data system. The city plans to open a low-barrier emergency shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive by September 1st with third-party contractor support, prioritizing the 38 individuals identified in the Point-in-Time count, while also expanding outreach capacity through new Department of Human Services specialists and strengthening partnerships across Region 10, ANCHOR/HEART, UVA Health, and local providers to create a comprehensive continuum of care. Staff engaged approximately seven to eight Holiday Drive area businesses with building tours and educational materials to address concerns about the shelter's structure, 24/7 staffing, and case management, and the Charlottesville Police Department will enhance patrols to ensure resident safety through the September 1st opening. Public commenters, including encampment residents Dennis Chambers, Josh Epstein, and Jennifer Grant, expressed concerns that the proposed shelter inadequately addresses the needs of people with pets, couples, those with mental health challenges, and individuals requiring private space, arguing the city failed to include homeless residents in decision-making and that addressing the underlying housing crisis is the real solution rather than enforcement-based displacement.
Staff presented a comprehensive homeless services update addressing the encampment closure and transition to shelter services. Key data showed the HEART crisis response team decreased repeat encounters (from 2.0 to 1.75 per person) while serving more individuals, though staff acknowledged gaps in analyzing demographic trends, particularly a 20% increase in female encounters, and noted concerns about overlapping service category definitions requiring further investigation using the Gelata data system. The city plans to open a low-barrier emergency shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive by September 1st with third-party contractor support, prioritizing the 38 individuals identified in the Point-in-Time count, while also expanding outreach capacity through new Department of Human Services specialists and strengthening partnerships across Region 10, ANCHOR/HEART, UVA Health, and local providers to create a comprehensive continuum of care. Staff engaged approximately seven to eight Holiday Drive area businesses with building tours and educational materials to address concerns about the shelter's structure, 24/7 staffing, and case management, and the Charlottesville Police Department will enhance patrols to ensure resident safety through the September 1st opening. Public commenters, including encampment residents Dennis Chambers, Josh Epstein, and Jennifer Grant, expressed concerns that the proposed shelter inadequately addresses the needs of people with pets, couples, those with mental health challenges, and individuals requiring private space, arguing the city failed to include homeless residents in decision-making and that addressing the underlying housing crisis is the real solution rather than enforcement-based displacement.
Minutes: May 4, 2026 regular meeting
The consent agenda was read, which included minutes from the May 4th regular meeting. Council members voted on approval of the consent agenda items without discussion of this specific item.
Resolution: Resolution appropriating funds for the Virginia Department of Education Special Nutrition Program Summer Food Service Program - $40,000 (2nd reading)
A resolution appropriating $40,000 in funds for the Virginia Department of Education Special Nutrition Program, Summer Food Service Program was presented as part of the consent agenda for second reading. No specific questions or concerns were raised during the consent agenda vote.
Ordinance: Ordinance amending and reenacting Chapter 2, Article XV of the Code of the City of Charlottesville, the Charlottesville Human Rights Ordinance (2nd reading)
An ordinance amending and reenacting Chapter 2, Article 15 of the Code of the City of Charlottesville regarding the Charlottesville Human Rights Ordinance was presented for second reading as part of the consent agenda. The item was approved with no specific discussion.
Agenda items (21)
Procedural (21)
1ProceduralReport: ANCHOR FY 26 Annual Report
The city will receive an annual report from ANCHOR, a local organization, covering its activities and progress for fiscal year 2026.
What happened
# ANCHOR FY 26 Annual Report SummaryHunter Smith, Deputy Director of Department of Human Services, presented the ANCHOR team report, highlighting the collaborative efforts of fire, police, and mental health workers in responding to behavioral health and mental health-related 911 calls Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with success measured by minimizing criminal justice involvement and supporting voluntary hospitalizations. Staff presented successful case interventions demonstrating ANCHOR's effectiveness, such as dramatically reducing 911 calls for a resident with hallucinatory episodes and supporting safer behavior adoption in another case. Norman Dereese and Hunter explained that the referral process involves ECC dispatching calls to ANCHOR, on-scene police officer referrals, and Dr. Courtney Anderson, a clinician embedded in ECC, flagging mental health calls for direct referral. When Councilor Jen raised concerns about whether ANCHOR needs its own dispatch system, staff indicated they are pausing that decision pending further analysis with the HEART team. Staff clarified that while ANCHOR responds to active emergencies at encampments related to homelessness, their core function is limited to emergency crisis response, and expanding beyond 911 calls would reduce capacity for this essential service, with ongoing case management directed to other providers.
2ProceduralReport: Homeless Services Update 5:30 PM Closed Meeting (if called) 6:30 PM Business Session
City council will receive an update on homeless services currently being provided in Charlottesville, with a closed meeting at 5:30 PM followed by the public business session at 6:30 PM.
What happened
# Homeless Services Update SummaryStaff presented a comprehensive homeless services update addressing the encampment closure and transition to shelter services. Key data showed the HEART crisis response team decreased repeat encounters (from 2.0 to 1.75 per person) while serving more individuals, though staff acknowledged gaps in analyzing demographic trends, particularly a 20% increase in female encounters, and noted concerns about overlapping service category definitions requiring further investigation using the Gelata data system. The city plans to open a low-barrier emergency shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive by September 1st with third-party contractor support, prioritizing the 38 individuals identified in the Point-in-Time count, while also expanding outreach capacity through new Department of Human Services specialists and strengthening partnerships across Region 10, ANCHOR/HEART, UVA Health, and local providers to create a comprehensive continuum of care. Staff engaged approximately seven to eight Holiday Drive area businesses with building tours and educational materials to address concerns about the shelter's structure, 24/7 staffing, and case management, and the Charlottesville Police Department will enhance patrols to ensure resident safety through the September 1st opening. Public commenters, including encampment residents Dennis Chambers, Josh Epstein, and Jennifer Grant, expressed concerns that the proposed shelter inadequately addresses the needs of people with pets, couples, those with mental health challenges, and individuals requiring private space, arguing the city failed to include homeless residents in decision-making and that addressing the underlying housing crisis is the real solution rather than enforcement-based displacement.
3ProceduralMinutes: May 4, 2026 regular meeting
The council will review and approve the official minutes from its May 4, 2026 meeting.
What happened
The consent agenda was read, which included minutes from the May 4th regular meeting. Council members voted on approval of the consent agenda items without discussion of this specific item.4ProceduralResolution: Resolution appropriating funds for the Virginia Department of Education Special Nutrition Program Summer Food Service Program - $40,000 (2nd reading)
The city is allocating $40,000 in state funding to support the Summer Food Service Program, which provides meals to low-income children during summer break (second vote).
What happened
A resolution appropriating $40,000 in funds for the Virginia Department of Education Special Nutrition Program, Summer Food Service Program was presented as part of the consent agenda for second reading. No specific questions or concerns were raised during the consent agenda vote.5ProceduralOrdinance: Ordinance amending and reenacting Chapter 2, Article XV of the Code of the City of Charlottesville, the Charlottesville Human Rights Ordinance (2nd reading)
The city is updating its Human Rights Ordinance to strengthen protections against discrimination in Charlottesville (second vote).
What happened
An ordinance amending and reenacting Chapter 2, Article 15 of the Code of the City of Charlottesville regarding the Charlottesville Human Rights Ordinance was presented for second reading as part of the consent agenda. The item was approved with no specific discussion.6ProceduralResolution: Resolution Allocating Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund Grant Program Funding for Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority South First Street Phase Two in the Amount of $425,000 (2nd reading)
The city is approving a $425,000 grant from its affordable housing fund to support the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority's South First Street Phase Two housing project (second vote).
What happened
A resolution allocating $425,000 from the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund grant program for Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority South First Street, Phase 2 was presented for second reading as part of the consent agenda. This item was approved without discussion.7ProceduralOrdinance: Ordinance Adoption: 801 West Street; Zoning Text Amendment (Pl-26-0043), Designation of Individually Protected Property (2nd reading)
The city is adopting zoning text amendments and designating 801 West Street as an individually protected historic property to preserve its character (second vote).
What happened
# Summary: 801 West Street Zoning Text Amendment (Pl-26-0043)The ordinance adoption for 801 West Street zoning text amendment designating the property as individually protected was presented for second reading as part of the consent agenda. A speaker commended City Council for supporting the amendment as responsible property stewardship in the 10th and Page neighborhood, while also raising concerns about compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The speaker drew historical parallels to the Vinegar Hill Urban Renewal Project and emphasized the importance of community-oriented decision-making processes and participatory consultation requirements for federally funded projects. No other specific questions or concerns were raised during the discussion.
8ProceduralOrdinance: Ordinance: 801 West Street: Zoning Map Amendment (Pl-26-0042), Designation of Individually Protected Property (2nd reading)
The city is changing the zoning map classification for 801 West Street and designating it as an individually protected property (second vote).
What happened
# Discussion Summary: 801 West Street Zoning Map Amendment (Pl-26-0042)An ordinance designating 801 West Street as individually protected through a zoning map amendment (Pl-26-0042) was presented for second reading and approved as part of the consent agenda. A speaker expressed gratitude to City Council for supporting the amendment, characterizing it as generational stewardship of the property located in the 10th and Page neighborhood. The speaker connected this approval to broader concerns about historic preservation and community engagement in development decisions.
9ProceduralResolution: Resolution to Authorize $204,017 in additional funds for the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail (1 of 2 readings)
The city is approving an additional $204,017 to cover operating costs for the regional jail shared with Albemarle County (first vote).
What happened
A resolution to authorize $204,017 in additional funds for the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail was presented for one of two readings as part of the consent agenda. No specific discussion or concerns were raised during the vote.10ProceduralResolution: Resolution to appropriate Albemarle County Human Services funding to the Department of Human Services for the Community Attention Youth Internship Program for $63,000 (1 of 2 readings)
Charlottesville will receive $63,000 from Albemarle County to fund a community internship program for youth (first vote).
What happened
A resolution to appropriate $63,000 in Albemarle County Human Services funding to the Department of Human Services for the Community Action Youth Internship Program was presented for one of two readings as part of the consent agenda. This item was approved without discussion.11ProceduralResolution: Resolution to appropriate additional $45,330.18 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS/HIV grant 25-HOPWA-303 (1 of 2 readings)
The city is accepting an additional $45,330.18 in federal grant money to support housing and services for people living with HIV/AIDS (first vote).
What happened
A resolution to appropriate an additional $45,330.18 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS/HIV Grant was presented for one of two readings as part of the consent agenda. No questions or concerns were raised.12ProceduralResolution: Resolution for Compromise of Claim: Water and Wastewater Leak Credit for $13,074.68 for CRHA.
The city is forgiving a $13,074.68 water and wastewater bill for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority due to a leak.
What happened
A resolution for compromise of claim regarding a water and wastewater leak credit of $13,074.68 for CRHA was presented as part of the consent agenda. This item was approved without specific discussion.13ProceduralReport: City Manager Report
The City Manager will brief council on current city operations, projects, and administrative updates.
What happened
# City Manager Report SummaryThe City Manager presented upcoming community events including a Back to School Bash at Boys & Girls Club, a registration event at Charlottesville Middle School, Sounds of Summer at Forest Hill Park, and Soul of C-Ville events throughout the week, with no councilor questions raised. Brenda Kelly, Downtown Strategy Manager, presented a lease agreement with City of Promise for properties at 708 Page Street and 210 8th Street Northwest, structured at $1 for year one followed by approximately $4,000 annually with 3% annual increases under a one-year renewable term. A councilor questioned whether the city already contributes financially to City of Promise and noted that this lease formalizes a long-standing arrangement discovered during a property audit. The motion passed 4-0 with no public comment received.
14ProceduralResolution: Resolution Authorizing Agreement with Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport Authority for Provision of Legal Services by City Attorney's Office
The city is authorizing its attorney's office to provide legal services to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport Authority.
What happened
# Summary: Resolution Authorizing Agreement with Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport Authority for Legal ServicesJohn Maddox, City Attorney, presented a resolution to formalize and update the city attorney's office agreement with the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport Authority, increasing annual compensation from the inadequate $25,000 rate to $75,000 in year one, then escalating to 1.25-1.5% of the Airport Authority's operating budget (approximately $160,000 annually) over an initial five-year term. Maddox explained the new rate was based on comparable agreements with organizations like James Madison Regional Library (2%), with the lower rate offered as a goodwill measure, and clarified that services include general legal advice, compliance, negotiations, and claims review—but exclude litigation and conflict-of-interest matters. Council member Michael raised a related point about encouraging the Airport Authority to install solar to support climate goals, noting that sustainability conversations between city, county, and airport leadership were already in progress. When questioned about the flat-rate structure, Maddox confirmed the $75,000 minimum applies regardless of billable hours, noting that public employees prefer avoiding hourly billing arrangements. The resolution passed unanimously.
15ProceduralResolution: Resolution to authorize the allocation of up to $4 million dollars for emergency sheltering services and direct to housing initiatives in collaboration with the Department of Human Services.
The city is dedicating up to $4 million for emergency housing assistance and transitional housing programs to address homelessness in collaboration with the Department of Human Services.
What happened
# Summary: Resolution to Authorize $4 Million Emergency Shelter AllocationMr. Sanders presented Resolution 15 to authorize $4 million in emergency shelter funding from Virginia's $7 million appropriation (supported by Senator Creigh Deeds) to establish a centralized homeless services center at 2000 Holiday Drive operated by Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), a Phoenix-based organization with 40+ years of experience. The facility will provide 24/7 low-barrier shelter, day services, and case management for 120 people in real beds, with wraparound services and transitional housing lasting 18-24 months, accommodating pets and couples while coordinating with Support Works and UVA Health for on-site clinical services and transitions to permanent housing like the upcoming Vista 29 facility (80 units opening November 1st). Staff explained that the facility differs from transitional housing under state definitions and will be operated by CASS, whose low-barrier shelter model reflects existing community services; the primary barrier to opening was identifying an operator, which has now been resolved. Public commenters Lizzie and Laura Sergani challenged the cost-effectiveness compared to alternative models like tiny house villages and questioned the assessment methodology, though the Council voted 4-0 to adopt the resolution, waiving second reading with a four-fifths vote to allow work to proceed.
17ProceduralThis is an in-person meeting with an option for the public to participate electronically by registering in advance for the Zoom webinar at www.charlottesville.gov/zoom. The meeting may also be viewed on the City's streaming platforms and local government Channel 10. Individuals with disabilities who require assistance or special arrangements to participate in the public meeting may call (434) 987-1267 or submit a request via email to ada@charlottesville.gov. The City of Charlottesville requests that you provide 48 hours’ notice so that proper arrangements may be made.
This meeting will be held in person with online participation available via Zoom, and accessibility accommodations can be requested by calling (434) 987-1267 or emailing ada@charlottesville.gov at least 48 hours in advance.
18ProceduralThe presiding officer shall ensure that individuals address their comments to City Council at appropriate times, in accordance with the meeting agenda and Council’s Rules of Procedure.
The meeting chair will ensure that public comments are made at appropriate times and follow the council's established rules of procedure.
19ProceduralNo person who is not a member of the city council shall orally address it until leave to do so has been granted by the city council or until invited to do so by the mayor. (City Code sec.2-71)
Members of the public must receive permission from the city council or an invitation from the mayor before speaking during the meeting.
20ProceduralRemarks and actions that disrupt the progress of the Council meeting, and remarks from persons other than councilors, the City Manager, the City Attorney, or a presenter for an Agenda
Disruptive remarks or actions that interfere with the conduct of council business are not permitted during the meeting.
21ProceduralThe presiding officer shall call an individual to order, including a councilor, when that individual goes afoul of these rules. The following are examples of remarks and behavior that are not permitted: i. Interrupting a speaker who is addressing Council at the speaker's microphone, or interrupting a speaker who has otherwise been invited to address Council during Community Matters or a Public Hearing ii. Interrupting a councilor who is speaking iii. Shouting, and talking (either individually or in concert with others) in a manner that prevents a speaker or a Councilor from being heard or that otherwise hinders the progress of the meeting iv. Blocking paths for emergency exit from the meeting room; engaging in any conduct that prevents a member of the audience from seeing or hearing councilors during a meeting; standing on chairs or tables within the Council meeting room v. Threats or incitement of violence toward councilors, City staff or members of the public vi. Engaging in conduct that is a criminal offense under the City Code or the Virginia Code vii. Campaigning for elected office viii. Promotion of private business ventures ix. Using profanity or vulgarity x. Personal attacks against Councilors, City staff or members of the public xi. Behavior which tends to intimidate others
The meeting chair will enforce rules against interruptions, shouting, threats, profanity, personal attacks, blocking exits, and other disruptive conduct that prevents the council from conducting its business.
22ProceduralDuring a City Council meeting the presiding officer shall have control of the Council Chambers and the connecting halls and corridors within City Hall, and any other venue where a Council meeting is being held. In case of any conduct described above, the presiding officer may take measures deemed appropriate, including but not limited to suspending the meeting until order is restored, ordering areas to be cleared by the Sergeant at Arms, or requiring any individual to exit the meeting room and adjacent premises (connecting halls and corridors.)
The presiding officer has authority to maintain order in the council chambers and may suspend the meeting, clear areas, or require individuals to leave if conduct becomes disruptive or violates the rules.
Additional votes recorded in minutes
Approve the agenda
aye 1
voice voteaye
Motion to go into closed session
aye 1
voice voteaye
Certify closed session
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve consent agenda
aye 4 · absent 1
Jen Fleisheraye
Juandiego Wadeabsent
Lloyd Snookaye
Michael Payneaye
Natalie Oschrinaye
Approve lease with City of Promise for 708 Page Street
aye 4 · absent 1
Jen Fleisheraye
Juandiego Wadeabsent
Lloyd Snookaye
Michael Payneaye
Natalie Oschrinaye
Approve agreement with Charlottesville Albemarle Airport Authority for legal services
aye 4 · absent 1
Jen Fleisheraye
Juandiego Wadeabsent
Lloyd Snookaye
Michael Payneaye
Natalie Oschrinaye
Authorize allocation of up to $4 million for emergency sheltering services and direct to housing initiatives (waiving second reading)
aye 4 · absent 1
Jen Fleisheraye
Juandiego Wadeabsent
Lloyd Snookaye
Michael Payneaye
Natalie Oschrinaye
Motion to adjourn
aye 1
voice voteaye
Verbatim transcript available
727 transcript segments indexed
The August 3rd, 2026 Charlottesville City Council meeting will come to order. Ms. Thomas, will you call the roll, please? Councilor Fleischer? Here. Vice Mayor Oshrin? Here. Councilor Payne, not yet. Councilor Snook?
Here. And Mayor Waite is absent today. We do have a quorum, so we can move forward. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. Second. Are we logged? I know I'm not logged. Can we say all in favor?
Sure. All in favor say, "Yes." Yes. Motion passes. For the benefit of the public, this meeting will be divided into three sections. First will be a work session to hear and discuss presentations that do not require a vote.
We do have a closed session tonight. And then the business meeting will begin at 6:30. There will be opportunity for community input at the 6:30 meeting. Are we ready for the ANGR report? Yes. Good afternoon, everyone.
Good afternoon. Hello, councilors. Hi. I'm here in a different capacity than you usually see me. Good to see everyone. Well, before we get into the slides, by the Hunter Smith, Deputy Director of Department of Human Services, overseeing adult programs.
The team is back here. Everybody can take a wave. Thank you. Before I go into the slides, I wanted to take a second. We had lunch Friday, and I realized when I put the slides together and sent them in, I didn't really take a minute to compliment the team in the slideshow.
And so when we were at lunch, I was thinking about how awesome these individuals are. They really kind of demonstrate what collaboration kind of can be. We've got fire, police, mental health workers. And every day in their cases, they're able to work together and solve problems in a way that's very unique, and I think we can learn a lot from how these people work together.
I'm very fortunate to be able to work with them, and watching them do their work is pretty fascinating on a day-to-day basis. So I wanted to point that out. Also, to be able to work with a team of adults that come to work prepared, ready all the time, whether I'm available or not, is something I wanted to point out that isn't in the slides, but I wanted to make sure to draw attention to that.
So there they are back there. They're awesome. All right. Here we are. Here's the folks. We have one person missing tonight, Mr. Connery from fire. This is a picture of the team with the van that we use, when we're able to use it to help various citizens and people that are in need.
Intro, kind of a brief introduction. I'm sure you all are familiar with the team, but I wanted to kind of go over the basics again. We respond to behavioral health, mental health related calls to 911, ECC, with the aim to reduce the need for criminal justice involvement for neighbors to whom we respond.
We actually have a very good relationship with the HEART team. That's the county's version of what we do. They provide a similar service. We actually went to Texas to a conference this year together with them.
It was pretty fascinating, pretty awesome. We have a long list of community partners who also assist in our work, Region 10, health department, and different programs in town. The members of our team, we have three different departments that are representative.
We have one QMHP, qualified mental health professional, part of the human services staff as of July 1st of this year. One peer support specialist, also newly kind of part of the city now, human service department.
We have two CIT-trained police officers and two Charlottesville Fire Department CIT-trained firefighters/EMTs. My role is really to provide operational support and assist on calls when necessary and available.
I really wish I had more time to do that, because it's really the highlight of my day, but lately there have been some things that have taken me out of that kind of response ability. But it is really fascinating to watch them work in the city.
Our current hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The purpose and the goals, and so those of you that aren't familiar, we really work to seek to help the people with needs of individuals, including opioid overdoses.
We are within the city limits. We provide trauma-informed and culture-responsive supports to those people. We want to connect residents to stabilizing providers for long-term supports and prevention services.
We want to engage in harm reduction efforts when necessary. We want to prepare the community to implement the Marcus Alert legislation that's still ongoing. I think we're kind of ahead of the curve on that.
We're doing really great with that. The way we define success is a working definition. It's a difficult thing to really ascertain and to kind of nail down when you're working with very specific individuals.
We do want to minimize the need for criminal justice involvement for individuals who experience mental health and behavioral health crises in assisting those individuals with obtaining other supports.
We would like for people to agree to voluntary hospitalizations when their needs can't be met in the field or on scene. Voluntary wellness recovery admissions at Region 10. We want to reduce ECC utilization when necessary.
We have an example of that later that we were really successful with this year. And to decrease arrests. The major activities we engage in regularly, we respond to active calls from ECC. We engage in follow-up calls, identified as the mental health needs.
So if someone we're responding to on a Tuesday, we might follow up with them later that week to see how they're doing, what the outcome's going to be or has been. We can perform welfare checks. We collaborate with first responders and intervene to support the community member and their families in crisis.
So sometimes the person we're responding to might be the individual that's having the mental health crisis, or also could be somebody that's there living with them or connected to them. We also collect and analyze data to respond to community needs.
I have a note here, too. We are tentatively invited to participate in a NAMI conference here in September. It's actually the board said. So we're going to work with the HEART team on that. It's going to be pretty awesome.
Next slide. Here are our statistics year to year. It's not the most beautiful representation of the statistics, but they're there. One of the things that I noted here is that from FY25 to FY26, we had a reduction in numbers of calls for service, but we served more people.
And so that I think is a positive statistic. So that means we're seeing the same people fewer times. We're actually reaching out to more people. So hopefully that's going to continue where we're not having to see the same people over and over again.
One thing you might note, actually before I go into that, just for people to know, encounters is how we define each call we go on. So we may have multiple encounters for the same person over the year, and so that's why that number is where it is.
Unique neighbors would be the specific individuals that we would encounter, and so it went from 222 in FY25 to 239 in FY26. And you can see the demographic information there, too. And so it's kind of a way we looked at it, it's like encounters per neighbor, FY25 was two, and it went down to 1.75 this year.
I think that's a positive move. The call types, how we identify them in our system, which is called Gelata. It's how we track our data. Active calls or calls that come in through ECC, we go out, make contact, do the work.
Follow-ups I described earlier. They're both post-crisis interventions. Collateral would be people that we would kind of come in contact due to the crisis, maybe not the direct person that we're responding to or someone there.
And other just as a few. That'd just be anybody that wasn't those three. The bottom of the spreadsheet you see here, that's the primary concern for call. You might notice that it appears that the mental health calls went down from year to year.
That's a result in the team noticing more than one episode or more than one issue, primary concern on scene. And you can see the behavioral/mental health calls, that combination went up, as well as other and multiple.
And so we're seeing a wider range of issues we're being called for, and that's a data point that we'll look at over the next few months to see if it's how we're identifying them, if there's issues in how we collect the information, and what we're seeing on scene, and how do I document it properly.
Before I go on, I'm going to take a minute. Anybody has any questions, observations in the moment? There seems to be several overlapping primary concern- Mm-hmm ... classifications. True. How do you categorize the case?
That's a great question. I think that's one of the things we have to look at this year. Oh, actually, not this year, for the upcoming year or the current fiscal year, to see why we're doing that. And I think that's because the system lets us pick more than one, so we can pick a few at a time.
And I think the thing we need to discuss internally is, first of all, how we define primary concern, how are we defining if there's a primary concern or not, and then how we're identifying whether something is one or two or three, and getting better about how we put that information in.
Or do we report on it differently to lay it out in all the different types of concerns? That's a great question, something that we noticed when we looked at the data. What do you hear? I have a question.
Yes. The female number of encounters- Mm-hmm ... jumped 20-plus percent- Mm-hmm ... over the year. Do we have any idea why that is? Not yet. Okay. We just ran this data after the fiscal year. Oh, okay.
And so we haven't had a chance to really dig into that yet. We probably would take a look to see how many of those were maybe follow-up. They're new. I don't know if that was somebody from the previous year into the second year.
We're not quite sure. So we'll probably look at that ourselves and then talk to the people that manage the service too, to help us figure out why the information's coming in that way. But I don't have anything to really enlighten you with right now.
No, that's fine. I know Gelata does that, so we should be able to get that granular. Yeah. But that'd be interesting, because it's tracking in unique and overall, so I'm- Yes ... curious why that's happening.
Mm-hmm. But I don't have any anecdotal information for you on that at this point. That's all right. So this year, we thought we'd add some stories to the presentation, not just the numbers. And so we got together and talked about what we thought would be good examples to share with you.
One of the examples that we had, I think it was this fiscal year. No, it was last year, last fiscal year. We had a neighbor that called. She was kind of navigating active substance abuse along with symptoms of various mental health diagnoses.
We showed up. We were able to help her, help her get her medicine, help her get a place to calm down and talk about the issues. And we were able to get her into wellness recovery, and she reached back out to us some time later that things are going well, and she's feeling much better about her situation.
That was an excellent example of what we do. We had another neighbor earlier this year that called ECC for himself. He was self-reporting issues related to mental health, and some behaviors that were associated with that.
And he responded very well to a multidisciplinary approach. Everyone was trying to talk to him, figure out what he needed to do. He actually responded to the officers in that scene, more than anyone else that was on scene.
And he received a voluntary assessment at Region 10, took him in, and it resolved successfully. We had a neighbor who had been repeatedly calling 911 for hallucinatory and delusional experiences, many times per day.
And through Anchor and her connecting with one of the staff, we were able to, not eliminate, but dramatically reduce the number of calls she was making to 911 through a sustained intervention, which we call part of the follow-ups.
So we stayed with her, and those calls have remained low from that particular neighbor. Yes? So in that scenario, who calls Anchor? Does the ECC say, "Hey, we have a case that might be good for you all," or who's the referral?
In that case, once we get to know the individual, it starts with ECC. ECC calls, and they let us know. We go on, or maybe PD officers that are on scene will call us in, too. That happens most of the time.
Actually, we're called on the scene most of the time. And once we get to know somebody, we can work with them directly, and so we end up with a relationship with the individual. So it doesn't have to be a 911 call every time once we get to know them.
We might have some added- Yes. Go on ahead. Yeah. I just wanted to add too to that- Do you mind coming to speak into the microphone- Come on up ... so people at home can hear? Thank you. Hi, I'm Norman Dereese, one of the mental behavioral health people on the team.
And just to add to what Hunter was saying, the ECC also has a clinician embedded in it, Dr. Courtney Anderson, and so when there are calls that come in through ECC that he flags as potential mental health or behavioral health calls, he's able to put in a referral directly to Anchor through that as well.
Okay, great. So there's that direct line of communication and referral opportunity. Mm-hmm. Okay. Thank you so much. He can also handle issues on the phone as well, and make referrals at the same time.
It's very cool. Are you backing me up? Yeah. I love it. The next one, we had a neighbor who had 911 called him for service. He had been observed walking in town carrying some weapons, reportedly to minimize contact with other people and his own safety.
Through ANCHOR and this person's care team, a plan was developed to help establish safer behaviors that led to a reduction in calls for service. This person was really carrying a weapon for his own protection, scaring a lot of people in the meantime.
And so, ANCHOR was able to work with his care team, officers on scene, to get this person to adopt a new way of behaving to eliminate or reduce the number of times 911 was called to respond to him in that same situation.
In the last one, neighbor had CPD on-scene experience with symptoms of unknown mental health diagnoses. There was another weapon on scene, a different weapon, different scene. And PD realized there was a need for alternative response.
They stayed on scene. PD, ANCHOR, and reached the mobile crisis, who we were able to call on the scene. Mobile crisis works, from what I understand, when the person that's experiencing the crisis requests the service.
I don't speak for them, but that's how we know it exists. And they worked together to assist this neighbor to voluntarily seek treatment at UVA. And so those are all examples of a situation that could escalate pretty quickly.
And with ANCHOR there and the partners that we have, we're able to reduce, eliminate, and make the scene safer for the people that are experiencing that crisis and for neighbors as well. Am I good? Thank you.
Future and ongoing goals. We're working on developing a care navigation team to support neighbors after crisis. This initiative will help assist neighbors with immediate next steps to reduce the need for subsequent crisis related calls.
This would be an expansion of follow-up, where someone would help really connect the next service. So if someone has an appointment to get their mental health treatment, we would actually help get them there.
Or if they need medicine brought to them, we could do that, or a multitude of things, really to continue to minimize how we use 911 here for these neighbors. We want to develop a robust and multifaceted training plan that's centered on best practices for engaging neighbors in crisis, but also for situational awareness for the safety of ANCHOR team members.
So a combination of what PD might do, or what mental health clinicians might do, and what fire and rescue might do. And so we're going to try to develop a more robust training tool for that type of approach.
Continue ongoing community outreach and education. Keep partnering with other similar co-response teams across the country. And we're going to continue to analyze data to improve and enhance operations.
We do have one position currently slotted for care navigation, hoping to begin in January, we hope, to start that up. And this is the last slide. It's a picture of us at the conference in Dallas. Sorry, HEART didn't get invited to the picture, so they're not here.
That's all we have. If you have any questions for me, Norman, or anybody else back there, feel free to ask. All right, great. Thank you. You're welcome. We'll start over here, Jen. Okay. Thank you for that.
It's exciting to see that work getting done, and so productively and effectively. So dispatches coming through ECC, regular 911 calls, how do you know when you hit the tipping point for needing your own dispatch?
That's a very good question. Currently, we're pausing on that. I think both talking with the HEART team, there's some curiosity around how the calls were filtering through their system, and we're not 100% sure those calls are ready to be dispatched directly to the team.
Because what we hear coming in and what we see on scene can sometimes be different. And so until we have a better sense of being clear what those calls are, we're going to pause, and we're going to have officers on patrol or people that we know either make referrals or call us to the scene once we know.
We've seen a couple examples where, and the county sees it too, reportedly from HEART, that the call for services don't quite match what we should be doing when we get there. And so it's important for us to get that worked out.
So we're currently going to function as is. And so the referrals, there aren't direct to HEART referrals for the public. It has to come through ECC. Anchor. Anchor, yeah. Yeah. No referrals to ANCHOR.
It has to come through 911. There are cases where Dr. Anderson, for instance, can make referrals to ANCHOR. That's through the ECC process. But yes, primarily right now, it's through the 911 center. That way, it is typically officers calling in, requesting the service.
Email. Oh, yeah. There's the email process, too. Tammy, do you want to add to that? We can get them through text, though. Thanks. Come on up, Tammy. Since we're broadcasting, we want to make sure that everyone can hear.
Yes. And the mics don't quite reach that far. Thank you. Hi, I'm Tammy Shufflitt, one of the police officers on the team. We do receive text messages from officers. We receive them from the HEART team as well, and we also get emails from both, and we follow up with individuals that way also.
Great. Thank you. Thank you, Tammy. And then, how much of your time is spent on follow-up versus on scene? 10%. Guess. 20%. 70% of the time. So the new care management is like a traditional community paramedicine kind of model, where you're doing some proactive connections to high utilizers or known- I wouldn't call it community paramedicine- Okay ...
necessarily. What we're seeing is that there's similar issues that come up with our clients, meaning a lot of them might have an appointment that they maybe have scheduled, and we know they're just not getting there.
They're just not able to get to the place. They know it's there. It's been made. And so that would be a good example. There could be some sort of maybe housing related issues that person needs help with.
Or there could be issues with accessing ... food or accessing different benefits, and things that are technical things that we could help them do to improve their life. And so we're not talking about typical case management, but it could last six, seven, eight, nine months.
We're talking about maybe zero to 90 days max, and really highlighting those kind of critical issues that someone needs to kind of just get over and get through. But when they have so many stressors in their life, those things that might seem simple and concrete to someone else might be just too difficult to reach.
And so having someone assigned as a care navigator would work directly with the Anchor folks. So for example, if Norman maybe has somebody he wants to do that with, this person would work maybe with Norman, to figure out what those things are, what's the short-term care plan, and then execute that plan and get them through what those steps are, maybe.
It may be even connecting them with family that they're not quite sure how to reach out to. We could help them navigate that, too. Hmm. And so there's some examples around the country doing that, and we're going to lean in on those.
Durham, North Carolina has that program, and so we'll probably lean in on them and other folks we met at the conference in Dallas as well. Awesome. Okay, last question, promise. I know the Anchor team has a slightly different model, and they've been around a little longer.
So is there something Anchor team is doing or you're partnering with that you'd like to see more of for-- There's something the HEART team is doing that the Anchor team wants to do more of, or that wants to partner more on?
They do have somewhat of a care navigation process. Hmm. Okay. I don't want to speak for them, but I think if we're going to duplicate anything, it would be a little bit more of that. Okay. And that's kind of where we're headed anyway.
Yeah. The plan is to take the next few months and try to kind of get a better sense of what those specific things are and maybe come up with a list of what the most important ones are, and then build it into a plan and then hire one person to do it so we don't over-hire.
So, that's kind of how I would respond to that. Yeah. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Great. I don't have any questions. I'm just very glad that you're up and running and doing so well, and that you're apparently fulfilling the hopes that we had in creating you all.
Definitely. You got a good group here. For sure. Great. Michael? I guess since one of your next big priorities is for that, increasing your capacity to do the follow-up, do you have a sense of kind of scale of how many people the outcomes aren't improving after you intervene in terms of not being able to follow up with Region 10 or whatever service they're directed to maybe isn't providing the level of care they need?
I don't know. I think part of what we'll probably see, what I anticipate we see, is that there maybe are barriers between partners that we're not able to address. And so if there's maybe a systemic barrier between what we do and the next partner, that person might be able to help outline that and work through it.
I would say with one person, we wouldn't go to over 15 people. And so really the question you're asking is interesting because we may have a few people that are having a lot of 911 calls generated towards them, and that might be somebody we work with.
And so some of it is trying to figure out kind of what you're saying over the next few months, like who are the real primary target kind of issues that we're facing that we want to address? I think we could narrow it down to about 15 of the ones that could really benefit from kind of ongoing support management.
And then really, hopefully, we'll be able to hand them off to somebody they're already associated with. So if we can make that relationship a little stronger and let them know that it can be okay, we can kind of do that, give them to the next person and be ready for the next person that shows up.
Mm-hmm. That's the idea. Mm-hmm. And sometimes too, we also often find ourselves helping educate people who, victims is a strong word, but someone who may be associated, a loved one of someone experiencing a mental health crisis, educating that other person over what their options are and help them understand the situation as well.
That could be another feature of that. Mm-hmm. And do you have a sense of kind of rough scale of how often you're getting calls for service that you don't have the capacity to respond to, just given your staffing limitations?
I don't really have an answer to that question right now. When you look at the heat maps, they show the hours that we're covering, and so we were able to cover most of those. I think that if we were to move into different times of day, we'd have to talk about resource management, too, like what would we need to do to expand the team to cover those times?
What I've kind of noted is most people are calling ECC during the working day. So that's what's happening. So that's when people are around witnessing these things. Most of these folks aren't calling on themselves when they're having a crisis.
Someone else is the one observing them. So it's hard to know really how to answer that question specifically, what we're missing. Mm-hmm. We don't really know. So I guess, would you assess your primary constraint, just given the staff and resources you have, as just the times in which you're able to operate?
If you had additional capacity, what are the things you would look to hope to be able to do? I'd like to know more about what the reality of what nights and weekends would look like if we were to go there, and what level of staffing we'd need to cover that.
When you look at the data, though, it's not a huge demand for it as they cover it through the ECC when they show us that information. There's some calls, but they're definitely hotter from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 or 7:00 p.m.
at night. There's no doubt about that. And so it's more about, I think right now, the capacity issue is more about supporting people after, which is why we're starting with that. And then we'd have to examine maybe what's happening in the evenings and over the weekends to figure out what that would be.
But I don't think there's a huge demand for that right now. Okay. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Thanks. My expanding hours was one of my questions. My other one was, you touched on a relationship with UVA Health and sending folks there for care.
Mm-hmm. Can you talk more about that relationship and how, since ANCHOR and HEART are relatively new- Mm-hmm ... how has that relationship been built and fostered, and what kinds of care is provided, and what is that like?
Through UVA? Yeah. Mostly that's taking folks up to the behavioral health unit at UVA. So they voluntarily want to go, we assist them to get there. We walk them in, we help them get situated. We kind of hand them over to the staff there, the Reach 10 staff and the hospital staff.
And after that, they kind of take it from there, and then they make the determinations over what the next steps are, if they're released, if they have to go for further treatment or things like that. And then depending on what the nature of the crisis was and how well we know that person, we might do our own follow-up afterwards.
But really, the relationship is relatively simple. We have a very simple process. They know us. They know what to expect. Okay. Yeah. We can call and check on things, and we have a system where we can divert staff to go get there ahead of time and get everybody ready, or we can make all kinds of decisions of the moment.
But they're very good to work with. Okay, great. So they- Yeah ... yeah, they know you all and- They know us. They understand what we're doing ... what's going on. Okay. Yeah. They're pretty clear. We bring somebody in, they know the drill, and we work pretty seamlessly to do that- Okay ...
I would say. Great. Good. Excellent. If anyone else have any additional questions or comments? Okay, great. Thank you so much. Awesome. Thank you. And thanks, team. Yep. And then we've got our homeless service update from Misty.
Roman. Oh. I saw Misty pointing to somebody else there. I indeed am the figure she's pointing to. I am sure you would much rather hear and look at her, but I am here to give you the update of what we've been doing over the past two weeks and what we intend to do over the next two weeks, very similar to what I did last time when I stood to speak with you all.
Good afternoon, councilors. As you already know, I am Roman, Assistant City Manager with the City Manager's Office. Just here to really go over what we have done over the past two weeks. So, I'll start off with encampment outreach.
As most of you know, the assessment and PIT count, Point in Time count team, was deployed for two days to initially interact with the occupants of the encampment. On the following week, the assessment teams ...
Thank you, Misty. She's so helpful. Thank you. The assessment teams, that consisted primarily of UVA clinicians and our local providers to include PACHM, maintain a presence at the riverfront where they set up two tables, two kiosks.
One of them on Zero East High side and the other one the Free Bridge side, using the data from the assessment and PIT count to interact with the folks down in the encampment. The goal, obviously, was to connect individuals to resources using the assessment data that was collected.
So far, the team mentioned earlier had been able to make 54 connections. Yes, 54 documented connections. Those connections include SNAP benefits and applications, healthcare coordinations, employment and education opportunities, case management intakes, scheduling follow-up appointments, identification and vital records, behavioral health and recovery support, and reentry support through Home to Hope as well.
Just a little bit on the internal logistics. City staff has gone through the encampment with encampment residents, and began the process of flagging items that have been discarded or otherwise abandoned, and soon we'll be contracting with a contractor to begin removal of those items.
Parks and Rec's continued daily trash collection and provided garbage bags upon request, and those bags are placed in certain areas of the encampment and picked up on a daily basis. Of course, we continue to have our weekly coordination meetings.
Our last one was last Wednesday, and we're due to have another one tomorrow. This is our internal team, where we take care of our internal coordination and communications. What we're doing currently is developing a process to track associated costs with the encampment closure, as well as cleanup and restoration.
Next, I'll talk a little bit about engagement. Although the city has taken the lead as it relates to emergency shelter operations, our goal really remains the same, and that is to collaborate with our partners, our providers, and other folks to ensure that we open Holiday Drive as close to September 1st as possible, and with a viable shelter operating plan.
We're close to identifying an entity to assist us with that. Our internal communications team has created an engagement plan that will ensure proper collaborations with entities such as the business community near Holiday Drive location.
Understanding the original timeline has been tremendously expedited, and engagement with the area businesses is necessary to ensure that we keep our businesses and public at large involved and informed as transparently as we can.
I will offer that today, we also went down to Holiday Drive, the business community down there, myself, along with the police chief, our local providers, as well as a few other individuals from economic development, just to have another touch point with our businesses in that area.
We spent about an hour and a half in the area, just talking with the different businesses, and really just kind of filling in some of the gaps as we know them now. Some of the informational gaps that existed.
So we'll continue to do that. CPD is also scheduling another community walk, one of their weekly community walks in the area as well. So we'll go back out, and answer questions and update accordingly with any new information.
Next, I'll talk about technical assistance. I wanted to talk with you a little bit about the fact that Community Solutions, along with Clutch Consulting, traveled to Charlottesville this past week and worked collaboratively with the assessment team.
After spending time in Charlottesville, they have offered their technical assistance to us, that will partner with us to utilize the resources available to connect with landlords and housing opportunities with current individuals in the encampment that were a part of the assessment.
They will also train city staff on case management, which will better prepare our staff to continue the work that the assessment team started. Forgot to change slides. Sorry. And they will also continue to advise us on technical matters pertaining to the encampment, the encampment closure, as we request.
Lastly, I will talk about safety and security. The Charlottesville Police Department, and the Charlottesville Fire Department maintained a dedicated presence in the encampment. Following the most recent incident, CPD increased patrols and maintained an enhanced public safety presence in the area, including overnight areas.
Also, the onsite cameras continue to enhance safety and situational awareness at the encampments as well. That being said, obviously, we have a few key takeaways that I just wanted to reiterate again.
Outreach efforts continue to connect individuals with service. That's what we have been doing, the work that has been doing, and that is the work that will continue. Operational support remains in place while cleanup preparations continue.
Planning for the opening of the temporary emergency shelter located at 2000 Holiday Drive remains a priority for us, and community engagement and transparent communication also remains a priority, which we're committed to.
Collaboration with our local providers and partners continue to be prioritized as we continue to have conversations with them, and of course, include them into any decision-making processes that we are engaged in.
Enhanced public safety presence is ongoing and likely to last throughout the closure of the encampment. And with that being said, that is my update. I'm more than happy to answer any questions. Misty is here with me, and she has agreed to help me along the questions that you all may have.
Great. Thank you. I'll start with Jen again, since you're our liaison to the group. Okay. Do you want me to start? I'll go last. Go that way first. Okay. Yeah. Michael? So at this point, what, if anything, can we say about where things stand in terms of a potential operator?
Yes, we have certainly come to a point where we think we have identified someone who has the capacity to do that, and we are still working out some of the nuances along with our city attorney's office, to make sure that we have dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's.
So not quite to the point where we can say that we have a formal agreement with someone, but certainly, that is what we are working toward. Mm-hmm. But so at this point, the primary thing left to figure out is on the city's end, kind of compliance and legal questions, are there still outstanding questions beyond that?
What's the scale of investment that we'll need in order for an operator to be successful there? Sure. I think the answer to that is E, all of the above. However, there will be some conversation, obviously, tonight, later on in this council meeting that will probably answer a few of those questions that you just asked.
Mm-hmm. The biggest of the questions that you're posing, Councilor Payne, is the cost. We're working through that, but there is an agenda item that you have later today that's for $4 million. It's a multi-pronged approach, and I'll be explaining that later in the business meeting as well, but the intent is to be able to retain the services of multiple organizations, as mentioned by Mr.
Romans. So CAST, Community Solutions, and Clutch. So I know in the point in time count and assessments that have recently been done, that's a very naturally difficult data set to collect. There's a lot of confounding variables in terms of how things go once it's publicly known that there's a- ...
um, closure date for the encampment and whatnot. But given all those caveats, what are some of the broad trends you've seen in terms of the, data you've been able to collect at the encampment? Yeah. At this point, truly still assessing the data.
Misty, correct me if I'm wrong. Feel free to jump in. Currently still assessing the pit count data. Obviously, the pit count is a point in time. And so Misty, did you want to add anything to that? The point-in-time count was organized by BRAC, and as I understand, they're still going through the data because in addition to finding individuals and those observations that were made on that day or that evening and that morning, they're also taking into consideration how many folks have utilized shelter.
They work with the school system to identify how many families are experiencing homelessness and other emergency hotel stay programs to make sure that count is all-encompassing. As for the assessments that are at the encampment right now or has been done with partners in Pochaman, UVA, they're identifying things of what are some of the basic current needs that they need in order to go.
We haven't analyzed for age, although I believe that was one of the demographic information or race. We have that, but it hasn't been formally compiled yet. Really, we moved just quickly on, do you have an ID?
What are the practical things that we can connect you with right now? So we haven't looked at it for trends. Mm-hmm. I think that makes total sense, and it may just be data that we naturally just won't be able to fully know.
But I am curious, there have been multiple media reports that in several weeks to several months ago, there were 70 tents that they identified. We've heard informally, like a maximum population was around 115.
That number probably was not based in any kind of census count or formal count. But to get a sense of how many people were there at the max versus how many people were counted during this point-in-time process, and how many people may have dispersed to other areas as soon as it was announced that closure is starting on September 1st, or as soon as it was known that there were nonprofit and city workers coming there in order to do a point-in-time count, if that makes sense.
But that may be data that is just impossible to really know. We can say that we spoke to 38 individuals that were participating in the assessment period. Yes, there was an informal count around that 115 number, but it wasn't an official census count.
I think we are working on what other areas people may have dispersed to, but we're focusing on the 38 right now that we know of as a priority to connect those to the Holiday Drive option, should it become available.
Mm-hmm. Right. And again, it may just be data that's impossible to know, but I would be curious if the amount of people who dispersed from the encampment versus its height, if there are any kind of general population differences between that subpopulation that dispersed to other areas versus the population who chose to stay at the encampment.
If there are any differences in terms of age, physical health, just things like that, understanding that may just not be possible to collect. And then the other thing I'm curious is just trends on of those who have been doing that outreach have been able to connect with the prevalence of severe mental health and addiction challenges and obviously, how do we combine providing shelter with wraparound services to meet those needs as well.
I think we're really fortunate that folks have been willing to engage with the teams doing outreach at the encampment, because then we're more prepared for what to expect once folks are offered an opportunity to seek shelter or housing options, so we can prepare now for what folks may need there later.
Mm-hmm. And this may be we discuss this later on in the council meeting, or maybe it's not known at this point, but do we have a rough sense of when it may be feasible to have Holiday Drive open as a low-barrier shelter, given where conversations stand?
Or is it premature to be able to say we think it can happen by this date in September? Yes, we are actually shooting for September 1st. That is our goal. We are working feverishly to try to make that happen.
And at this point, we are optimistic. Mm-hmm. We don't think that that is a lofty goal right now. We are really encouraged about what we know so far, that September 1st is likely the day. Mm-hmm. And then just two final questions.
One, I know you've been going out doing cleanups and garbage bags. What will it look like for the more extensive cleanup in terms of going through the whole site, larger items that may not be able to be removed at this point, as well as looking for used sharp objects, human waste, and things like that?
Yes. For that, we're leaning on the professionals, and that answer will come to us through assessment of what our professionals, the contractors, tell us what they see and what is the proper protocol to dispose and return that area back to what it looked like before The encampment was there.
Can I interrupt real quick? Yes. And clarify, when you say contractors- Yeah ... who are you referring to? The providers or- No ... people who do the cleanup? And is there a professional- Separate vendor.
A separate vendor. It is separate vendor- Yes ... that does the cleanup. Okay. Yes. Who we have... Already engaged. Okay. They've already actually been on the site before as well. Okay. Thank you. Mm-hmm.
Thank you. And for those who have asked questions about that, so it would be at some time in September that that more extensive specialized cleanup would occur? Yes. Yes, that's likely to occur in September.
However, as I mentioned earlier, we're trying to do what we can now in terms of tidying it up, getting out the unwanted items, the discarded items, and of course, the everyday trash that's produced. Mm-hmm.
And then the final question, just from your presentation, you talked about going out to talk with businesses in the Holiday Drive area. What is the feedback you heard in terms of concerns, and how widespread was kind of the understanding that even Holiday Drive, if and when it opens as a low-barrier shelter, is going to be a low-barrier shelter where there are structure, rules, a system to do it?
We've just heard email concerns that, oh, it's going to be an environment where there's no structure, no rules, which would never be the plan. But again, what are you hearing in terms of concerns? Yes.
As we were out there today, and Misty joined us out today, so feel free to chime in, but I think what we've heard is really across the gamut. Many people fear the unknown, so I think as we have opportunities for engagement and to ensure that we are filling in some of the informational gaps, some of the businesses are feeling more comfortable with that.
We recognize that that is an ongoing process. It is certainly not a one and done. So today we engaged with probably seven or eight businesses, and feedback was good. The thing that I'm most encouraged about is the fact that they want to partner with everyone that was represented today out at the business location to actually be a part of the process of making this look like what it should look like.
We've offered to the businesses an opportunity to go and tour the building so they can see what the building looks like inside. They were very receptive to that. And so the work that we have done today will certainly continue.
And not just for our businesses, but for the public, too. Remy, if you could bring up slide four, if you would, so I can click on the hyperlink and show the website, if possible, that we are working on.
This is our webpage that we're working on to ensure that we keep our community and business community informed. So this will have all of the information, contacts that folks can contact us and ask questions, and it will certainly have...
If you can scroll down just a little bit, Remy. It will have all of the information, frequently asked questions and things like that to keep our community informed, and then of course create opportunities for engagement as well.
Mm-hmm. No, I appreciate that, and I do feel confident that it will all be able to work out. And as you said, oftentimes there's fear of the unknown. I look at the history of PACHAM and their model of being a low-barrier shelter, again, with some level of rules and structure, and there haven't been really any problems or incidents in terms of where that's been located, and many of the churches are directly in neighborhoods.
So I do think, I know anything we would do at Holiday Drive would be very structured and intentional with case management and 24/7 staffing. And I think some of the emails, at least I've received, is some people maybe are not seeing that yet in terms of they have an impression of, oh, the city would just tell people to go into this structure, and then there would be no staffing or plan, and obviously that's something that we would never do.
Absolutely. There was a correlation today at some of the things that we have seen at the encampment, and a voice to not have those happen at the Holiday Drive location, and that is the point that Misty and I and others made.
We're coming into an environment where there is structure. There will be rules. There will be processes and protocols, unlike what the encampment is like now. All right. Thank you. That's it for me now.
Great. Thanks. So I want to make sure that I understand what the overall plan is. If we're going to start the low-barrier shelter around September 1st, at least at one point, the plan was articulated that the low-barrier shelter would, at this point, simply operate until basically PACHAM kicked in about November 1st or thereabout.
And then starting November 1st, the place would be available to be massively reworked by contractors and to develop things basically for occupancy the next time that there was no PACHAM. Am I fairly stating what the plan had been or is it still?
Yes. Let me just say that from a had been perspective, yes. That is different today because we've actually been able to do more and better, so now it's being revised. Okay. But go ahead. Will more on that be available sometime soon?
Go ahead. Yeah. Well said. Thank you. So currently, obviously, there's two tracks. There's one track that we're working on now is an emergency shelter where we can relocate those who are willing to go to the shelter from the encampment.
And then there's the larger scope of work as well, in which, an operating plan for the long term. Both tracks include our local providers. Obviously, we are working with, or attempting to work with, a third-party contractor who can come in and assist one who has the capacity To move very quickly to help us open up the emergency shelter on September 1st.
But yes, the work of long-term, low-barrier shelter with services and providers and things like that, that is something that we are currently still working on as well. And we are now in a position that if everything comes together as it is currently coming together, we will not have to shut the doors at Holiday Drive while renovations occur.
Huh. Okay. So that is a huge step- Yes ... in a positive direction if we are able to pull that off, and we are hoping that we can make that a reality. And we're not trying to shut the doors during Pocham season.
And not trying to shut the doors, period, after we open them. So I'm curious whether there is more that we can know at this point about the population counts. Obviously, as noted before, we've had estimates at one point of 115, and 80, and so on, and now we're finding 38 or maybe 30 that we're actually making contact with.
Do we have a sense, even just a working hypothesis vaguely, of what's going on? Yeah. Certainly we have what we think, but, as I look in the back of the room, I see our chief strategy officer who will continue to work towards working with our CoC to try to boil that kind of information down, put it in a mechanism, or put it in a format in which we can accurately share that information.
But I think by what we have said here tonight earlier, that in some cases it's difficult to analyze that information. However, we do endeavor to do the very best that we can with that, and I know Jen is working on that.
We talked a little bit about that today, on how can we report out those numbers, not just from the PIT assessment, but also how do we report out on those numbers accurately to ensure how many people did we help Medicaid?
How many people did we help with housing? How many people actually accepted our offer for sheltering? And so she is working on that now, and we believe that as we continue to come back and update you, that that picture will become more clearer for us, at least in an articulable way.
May I... I've sometimes talked about there's the technical term of Continuum of Care with a capital C at each end, where we have a sense of what that really means. And then there's the sort of the lowercase continuum of care, which may involve a whole lot of other kinds of assistance.
It may involve mental health assistance, perhaps with some help from Region 10. It could involve help from the anchor team that we have been talking about today. A lot of other entities. I'm wondering whether we're yet to the point where we could say we have a plan for the integration of all of these other kinds of services, or whether it's just a, "We'll get to it next month," kind of an answer.
Yeah. That's a great commentary. Great assessment. But what you described takes 30 seconds to say- Right ... but two years to accomplish. That is our goal though. Our goal is how do we align all of the resources that are out there and available?
How do we align them to work and march toward the same goal that we're trying to achieve here? That is the work that's being done. I don't know that that work will be complete by September 1. That is work that will continue to go on.
You mentioned Region 10. Misty and I, we are scheduled to meet with Region 10 here very soon to better understand how they play a part in what we have initiated as the lead in this. So many conversations are being had, and we know that it's more than conversations, and so we are trying to align the conversation with actionable items to get us all moving down the field, not only at the same time, but in concert with each other, so we're complementing the work that's being done by each of the entities.
May I also add that the Department of Human Services will be expanding to include homelessness outreach specialists. So that posting should go live shortly. That's going to include one program manager and also two homelessness outreach specialists.
What we hope that these positions will be able to do is to also help support accurate data collection. These folks will actually be in the field, not just at the Zero East High or the Free Bridge encampments, but in other areas in where folks may be sleeping outdoors, to ask questions like, "Where did you last sleep?
Was that associated with the encampment?" We won't know that now, but we are moving, again, rapidly to build some capacity in the CoC with DHS taking on some of that role. And just, we hear so many people speaking to us about their own stereotypes of the folks who are homeless, and there's one stereotype that basically suggests that they don't want to be in a house, they don't want to be in an apartment, they want to be camping out, and there's nothing you can do for them.
Another- Probably equally stereotypical kind of answer is to say that, "Well, everybody down there wants to be helped." And I'm sure that neither extreme is correct. Do you have a sense, or of the 30 that you've been talking to at this point, do they fall into the, "We'd like to have help.
Please help us"? Are we seeing more people who are in the, "I really don't want to go inside to a congregant facility," and, "Don't bother me, and let me stay out here"? How is that breaking out at this point?
Can you tell? Jen can speak more to the- ... outreach efforts on the ground because she's been there consistently for the last two weeks. I will say that it takes trust and time and relationships, and I think that Jen can attest to the numbers of engagements sort of increased and kind of deepened the longer that they were there.
Because folks that are out there have been disappointed and discouraged by what things have been offered them before. And it's about us being able to determine that this is something different, and that we're here with a consistent presence so that folks don't fall through the cracks.
And as that happens, some folks' sentiment, we believe, have changed. Like, "Okay, if you can give me more clarity on what to expect," or, "If I can believe and trust what you're offering me, then I may feel differently about where I sleep." But it is upon us as organizations, as a community, to have integrity and follow through with what we say we want to do.
That's all I've got. Yeah. Your turn. I'd say that I would agree with that wholeheartedly. I just want to start by saying a tremendous amount of gratitude and thanks for the partners that have come out to help us, and have really...
It's a perfect collaboration from the CVille ID team and the Havens ID team making huge impact today. Got five folks driven to DMV and back, and IDs in hand, which is really the key to so much access to so many opportunities.
And then PACHAM's team has been remarkable from leading the assessments in a trauma-informed way, but also making these connections that are critical to that trust building, and that kind of walking the walk that we have wanted to do.
UVA Health med students and nursing bringing all kinds of expertise and connections from general wound care to mental health support, so there's been a lot of great connections there. Congregations from PACHAM have supported us with supplies.
A lot of it is really getting supplies down there. And the Public Spaces working group has been really informative about how the work is going, and giving us feedback that we can constantly, all of us together, kind of refine our efforts as we go.
So we haven't had to pivot anything greatly, but that input and feedback loop with those agencies as well has really helped us refine, refine, and get more accurate as well as have more impact. So a really tremendous thanks for hours and hours of fantastic, very productive, and very, I think, work with great impact.
I would say the spectrum of need or of desire is like any neighborhood out there. There's community. There are folks desiring all kinds of ways of being together and living, and so we are doing our best to deliver and really meet those needs as they're presented to us.
I can say roughly the data for Michael's question, we had about 65% of folks are identified as White, 30% as Black or African American, 5% Hispanic, and 2% for Native American and others. So that's the rough breakdown from the first pass of evaluation.
And the average age is about 37. So we have about a handful of folks who are over 55, but that average age of 37 is there. We've got couples, folks trying to reunite with family, and all kinds of different walks of life that are living in both Xerie's Tie and Freebridge at the moment.
And I would say that the conversations, to echo what Misty's saying, the conversations have definitely gotten deeper, more connected, and more kind of open as we've gone. The teams have really worked hard to not only be consistent.
We've been there every day for at least four hours a day, but double days for a lot of the first week, and a few times last week as well, that a real commitment from the team to meet with the same people over and over, and follow through on what needs to be done.
And so again, the network of the COC providers and the city and UVA Health to tie up those loose ends and that follow through has been, I think, will be one of our keys to successfully transitioning folks from the encampments inside to the place that is the best fit for them.
So we've had at least just yesterday, five folks identified who are curious about the shelter, interested in learning more about it, are willing to make that transition with some more information, as Misty was saying.
We've had identified folks who might be a good fit for some of our housing programs that the ecosystem already provides. And I think our job at this point is just to consistently, continually be out there and work through the month of August as we get towards the closure date, and then Really commit to the connections and accommodations and case management that needs to follow folks, not only at this encampment, but others in town with the new kind of strike team that might be able to be deployed to continually assess, evaluate, connect.
Assess, evaluate, connect, I think that's going to be our best bet for getting as close to zero as we can. I think my only question would be, do we have yet a plan for post-closure mitigation? That space, we know business partners down there are very interested in supporting that work, but I don't know if that's allocated funding yet or time.
Yes, certainly there will be a cost associated with that, but this is the topic of our upcoming internal meeting. Not only what needs to be done, but what connections need to be made to get that work done.
And lastly, the engagement piece for that work. We certainly don't think that we should do that work alone, and so we're so very happy that the businesses in the area are stepping up to say, "Hey, what can we do to help as well?" Very grateful for that.
Great. I'll also say that the folks that have sort of been advisors to this work so far, the Clutch Consulting folks, have a process procedure that they've replicated in other areas based on best practice.
And so we're looking forward to having more intentional conversations about that topic. Yeah. I think as a council and as a city, we need to take this effort that we've really invested in and continue to figure out how we bolster it, scale it, continue it.
What's the sustainability of this work? Because it is following best practices, and down to the operator for the emergency shelter, and then the CoC in the long-term shelter. I would hope that we would not stop here, that we would figure out a way to continue this work in a really sustainable way so that we're really supporting all of our residents.
Did you guys have other questions about the assessment that I can answer? Okay. So I actually, yes. Yes. So you mentioned there were five more individuals today. Mm-hmm. I know the point-in-time count is specifically about an in time.
Mm-hmm. So that captured 38 individuals, but folks that you've been talking with after that were still adding to the list of folks who are being assessed or folks we can communicate with about the process.
Communicate with about the process. So our PIT count actually was 35 people for that moment in time. We had 38 in total that we gathered just after the PIT. We have not had anyone new to assess since last.
The assessment's been open the whole time, but Friday we closed it. We haven't had anyone ask, or there were no new faces, and we hadn't had anyone ask to be assessed. So really that 38 count ended at the beginning of last week.
Everyone that we've been working with this past week was on our list already, connecting to any services. And then with support from Region 10, the recovery team came down, Home to Hope came down, and other providers have now kind of joined the fold to help us do those connections.
So yeah, not any new headcount that I can speak of. So given the January PIT count and the data we have from our continuum of care, the historical data of how many individuals are helped every year, we're confident that there's more than just 38 people out in the community who are going to- Mm-hmm.
Absolutely ... participate in, or who would have the opportunity to participate in the congregate shelter process or further steps needed to get care. Yeah. Our goal is to provide an emergency low-barrier 24/7 shelter that is open to anyone who is willing, and it's a good fit for.
And those all follow kind of state processes and eligibilities, and we would connect with the CoC to do those best practices, but you don't have to just have resided or be in our 38 that we caught this time.
Once it's open, we're working on that programming, but it would be available to anyone who was eligible. Great. Thank you. Yeah. Anyone else have questions about the assessment before I ask my questions?
Okay. So I've got some questions about the presentation and some other details. Months ago, we got an initial presentation about what 2000 Holiday Drive could look like, renovations, potential use of the space.
Now that we're transitioning to opening it as a temporary emergency shelter, what are the features that are going to be there? What is it actually going to look like? How much of that has been conceptualized?
And how much does it differ from those plans? Yeah. So currently, obviously, as we prepare to open up the shelter, our goal at this point is to make the footprint obviously the existing footprint of the building, and at this point, a portion of the building.
And our work now is primarily based on what do we need to do to make sure that it's a safe environment, ingress, egress, things like that. So those are the things that will be done. And for instance, if a window is just a window, but it needs to be a window that opens, those are the type of changes that we are making now.
Long term, I think the manager has, Sanders has said all along that we should use the existing footprint of the building. So the architects obviously have that understanding in mind and working toward that goal as well.
But again, for now, the emergency shelter, what we're working on is making sure that building code, the building official is happy with the plans that we have for the building. Okay, thanks. And then as to what the internal programming features are going to look like, what does that look like for beds or pets?
Or what are the features that will be there for someone who is going to reside there? Sure. Our goal as it stands now is to be able, in some way, to accommodate all of that, because we do want the facility to be as accommodating as possible, because more people would utilize it that need that space at that time.
So the plan now obviously is to include that, pets and making sure that there is an opportunity for storage, which Misty and her work with the Public Spaces Committee. That was one of the things that we heard.
Storage was a big deal, and so we want to make sure that the facility can accommodate that as well, with limits, obviously. Sure. And for folks that ... I know pets are important for some people and might scare other people off.
How is that going to be managed? Or is that something that we're still working out? So I wish I could get into exactly the nuances of how that would be managed. That's what we're really leaning to an operator to help us shape and help us define.
Folks who have done this time and time again understand what works, what doesn't work, but making sure that we're incorporating what we're seeing in Charlottesville into that planning. So just not bringing a template from somewhere else that may not be suitable for Charlottesville.
So these are the things that are currently being worked out. Hopefully, in future updates, we will be able to ... Not hopefully, but we will be able to elaborate further on the technical questions such as that.
Okay, great. And then a question that I've seen pop up here and there, and so I just want to give a chance for the city to clarify is, we have these $7 million in the state budget for a certain type of service.
Can you briefly give a little recap about what that is allowed to be used for, where that can go, and what our current thoughts are about that? Sure. So the $7 million that has been appropriated by the state included in this budget, thanks to Senator Creigh Deeds.
Mm-hmm. The request ... Well, actually, I shouldn't say request. The recommendation that is coming to you all on your August 17th agenda is for $3 million to be provided to the Salvation Army, basically framing it as a match to the city's contribution to the Center of Hope capital campaign, the remaining $4 million remaining with the city to be used for transitional housing services.
The funding was appropriated with a limitation on it being for transitional housing and workforce solutions related to individuals who are unhoused. The Holiday Drive project does not match any of that, which is an issue, but not really an issue because while we're here talking to you about an emergency response regarding Holiday Drive being activated and then eventually becoming a long-term resource, we're still working on other things.
So that $4 million will be actually available for us to look at additional efforts to bring on transitional housing, which is an additional gap in our continuum of care. To follow up on that, is the ...
Because obviously the language is pretty easy to understand how you could end up at the interpretation you outlined. But is that purely the city's interpretation, or is that coming from a determination made by DHCD or the relevant state agency?
Yeah, that's state definition of what transitional housing that we are following, which helps us recognize that it is not for this type of shelter service. Because in essence, this type of shelter service that is provided could actually be a start and a stop.
It's just a place for people to go. The transitional housing component is that it becomes a place that people get to live in for an extended period of time, and there are minimal conditions that have to be met.
An example would be that they would have independence in that space. So an ability to cook, an ability to clean, and an ability to take care of themselves. In congregate shelter, that is not the case.
They're sharing that with everybody. There's no control, no limitations on that. So we're not looking at that as a negative that we have $4 million that we get to hold onto. It just becomes a motivator for us to get to the next rung of the ladder.
And for an example, Vista 29 that's opening later this year, would that be considered transitional housing? That would be considered transitional housing. Okay. Thank you. Is it? I think that's permanent supportive housing.
Well, it's permanent supportive housing, but it's still transitional because people might not stay there permanently. They might be there for a period of time and then go somewhere else for their own apartment.
That's the difference. There's a lot of definitions and acronyms that work in this space, which is why Lowery shelter, it's the lowest rung. It is not meant to be a stopping point for anyone. So we're looking at the $4 million as an opportunity for us to do something else.
So it's like the square rectangle where permanent supportive housing is a type of transitional housing- Yeah ... but it's not the only type of transitional housing? Right. Does that ... Okay, great. Thank you for that clarification.
Oh, this might be an assessment question. Okay. I don't know if this is a question that was asked. But was one of the questions asked ... Misty, you mentioned it about where was the last place you slept.
Does that capture how many folks, their origin is Charlottesville versus the county versus the surrounding counties versus a different state? Yes, I have that for you. So again, this is where the big thanks goes to Pacham and Cindy Chambers' team worked with the UVA Health team to generate the questions and then worked with BRAC to review those questions, to sync them up so that we could do the PIT as a provider during that count.
And then the PIT teams could go, like we got you covered at the river, basically. So it was a really great collaborative effort to create these questions. It took like 15, 20 minutes to answer the assessment.
It was pretty long. So the questions are really specific about where have you been? Where would you like to be? Where was your last address? And they get really in-depth, but again, not scrubbed, but we had about 40% were from Charlottesville, 11% from Albemarle, 8% from Louisa, 5% from Greene, 2% from Nelson, 21% were from another Virginia locality altogether, and about 8% were from out of state.
So, we do have that breakdown and those questions even got down to, are you interested in shelter? What would you be interested in? What would be the best fit for you? So we had a real glance at the spectrum of housing options and locations.
Okay, great. Thanks. I think what's useful to note there is that the minority of this population that was surveyed- Right, 38 people. We're only a little in, yeah ... population that was surveyed is actually from Charlottesville, and so there is this regional element at play, not just the local surrounding counties, but even beyond.
So my question is the county regional support, what does that look like so far? What commitments have been made, or if none yet, what opportunities are there for the surrounding counties to play a part in this project?
I'll take it because I got the nod. At this moment, there is not a specific allocation of a significant amount of money. There have been some resources made available at different times to support the COC members in various ways and closing gaps that might exist.
The county has an RFP that's open or that just closed. I understand that there will be requests that will be being made in the homelessness arena within that realm, so we're hoping that some of those requests can be considered favorably, and that would be a sizable investment by the county.
I'm involved in conversations with county leadership. We know that members of the Board of Supervisors have indicated interest in this issue, recognizing that it is a regional issue. I think hopefully that will lend itself to the consideration of these requests that are coming in.
And I'll be actually sitting with my regional peers, so all those representatives that are just mentioned in that report will be with me, again, receiving an update on what the work has been for the city of Charlottesville and how they are all invited and expected to participate.
Great. Excellent. I'm glad we're having those conversations and that there's been some movement there, and we appreciate in advance all of those- That's the right way to put it. Appreciation in advance ...
all of that partnership. Yes. Since we just got a presentation from the Anchor team, will they be playing a role in any of this? Is there an opportunity for them to, or is that a just distinctly different kind of element, or at some point, do they play a role in the continuum?
So they're not specific to this transition of the encampment. They are solely focused on responding to those 911 calls for service. So anytime we ask Anchor to do anything but that, that means that their capacity to respond to 911 calls for service are limited.
So we've been intentional in sort of making sure that Anchor's intended purpose is protected in this role. They have and know some folks that are unsheltered and have had interactions with them. So should there be an active emergency related to the encampment at the encampment, yes, they would make themselves available to respond, but they're really that crisis call rather than the ongoing case management.
As Hunter mentioned in his presentation, perhaps there's somebody that's living unsheltered that could use some more of that 60 to 90-day case management in that care navigation realm. But like I said, the Anchor core team is really uniquely situated to be on call for 911.
Okay, thanks. Mm-hmm. And then, I know we're running low on time here. I would like to echo Jen's gratitude for all the folks that have been working on this project in the city and then the community partners.
We often talk about how it is a complex project, and I think anyone who's tuned into this presentation really gets to see all of the different pieces that are necessary for interacting to pulling off this specific project.
On the flip side, we also know that homelessness is caused by lack of housing at the root, which is a simple answer. And so, while we do all of this to work on our specific emergency, we have to keep that in mind that the overarching low vacancy in Charlottesville and the surrounding areas is exacerbating this problem, and that's just something else we need to understand at the baseline root of all of this.
Any other comments or questions? Question So obviously, the Free Bridge and Zero East Kai encampments had existed for over a year and gradually grew over that time from at least media reports of reporters who counted tents.
At the height, there had been 70 tents. Informal reports of over 100 people, but what that number is based in, we don't know. But regardless, it grew over time, and during that time, did our nonprofit partners, were they going out to do any kind of systemized or routine outreach or case management over that period?
I- The- Go ahead. The BRAC was able to have an outreach position funded, but that's one person, and the city and the region that BRAC represents is very large. But I do know that that individual spent quite a bit of time in the encampment trying to make some connections to those folks to connect them to basic needs and resources, but the capacity was just more than what one outreach specialist could maintain on their own.
Which is another reason why BRAC recently released and closed an RFP for two other outreach specialists. So here soon, relatively soon, we will have four additional outreach specialists that will be able to facilitate that.
Mm-hmm. I'm not aware of any organized partner efforts other than isolated visits down there, or folks that are guests of the Haven because that's part of their normal path during the day to receive services and meals there.
Mm-hmm. But for over a year, there wasn't any systemized outreach or case management targeted at the encampment, it sounds like. Other than the BRAC position, there's not been that I'm aware of. Mm-hmm.
And is that just primarily, as we just think through the cause of that, is that just a lack of capacity within the continuum of care? I would say that it is a lack of capacity in the continuum of care, as we're faced now with really identifying solutions to meet this current need.
It's even more so palpable. The capacity that's needed to do this right and well and with integrity, it's quite a bit. Mm-hmm. So that's my assessment. It is a lack of capacity. Mm-hmm. So as a product of that, the only data we really have is coming from the process we've recently started.
That's my understanding. Is that correct? In terms of we don't have data on six months ago trends in terms of number of people in the encampment, the types of challenges folks were facing, the number of people connected with existing services that- As far as I'm aware, this is the first of its kind.
Mm-hmm. Okay. And the only other question, and you touched on it a little bit, is obviously, there have been recent incidents of reported sexual violence in the encampment. The Daily Progress has a recent article which I think just speaks to how volatile and unsafe the situation had gotten for those who were living out there.
On top of that, we've had people who started going out there and harassing people in the encampment. All of which is to say, for just the safety of the folks who are out there and sleeping out there who have been victims of crimes and in many cases, horrific crimes, what is being done to protect their basic health and safety as we move towards opening of a low-barrier shelter?
Yeah, great question. Thanks for asking. I would say definitely the relationship building is a part of it. The partnership to ensure that the safety of the people in the encampment, the people visiting the encampment, is encompassed within the safety plan, obviously, that our public safety teams has initiated most recently.
So, with the incidents that we've seen in the encampment, we hope that those incidents... We are hopeful that those incidents will decrease. Hopefully not occur anymore. As I mentioned, CPD has enhanced their patrols, and that's not just to be present, but it's to make sure that they are doing everything possible that they can do to ensure that it's a safe environment for not only the folks in the encampment, but the folks visiting the trail, as well as the surrounding businesses.
So, that work will continue. And hopefully it can get us to September 1 in the safest possible environment. Thank you. I'll save all my comments for later when I talk to you in the regular part of the meeting.
Okay. Thank you all so much for the presentation. Thank you. Do we have a motion to go into closed meeting? I have one in front of me. "Pursuant to Section 2.2-3712 of the Virginia Code, I move that the city council close this open meeting and convene in a closed session, as authorized by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act as follows: Pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711 (8) , for consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel, specifically interlocal agreements pertaining to natural gas and water infrastructure." Second the motion.
Is there a second? Great. All in favor? Yes. Yes. All right. City Council is now in a closed meeting, and we will return at 6:30. Thank you very much. Good evening, folks. Michael, can you read us out of closed session, please?
Yes. I move that this council certify by recorded vote that to the best of each council member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion convening the closed session were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed session.
Is there a second? Second. All in favor? Yes. And for future votes, is everybody logged in? I just did, yes. Okay. Great. I think we've got a little time. We'll begin the business meeting with a moment of silence.
Thank you very much. Before we get started on other things, are there any announcements? I have two announcements. One is something I think is worth pointing out to people. The project called Triangle of Hope, a project of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, and the Anglican Diocese of Kumasi, Ghana.
Teenagers from each of these three dioceses have met together for the past three summers to study the history of slavery. Liverpool, because that is where many of the slave ships sailed from, Kumasi, because that is where so many enslaved people came from, and Virginia, because that is where so many enslaved people were brought.
Two years ago, teens from each of the three dioceses went together to Liverpool to learn about our shared history of the Atlantic slave trade. Last summer, the teens from Liverpool came to Virginia. The teens from Ghana were denied visas by the Trump administration.
This year, about 40 teens are meeting in Ghana to continue their learning about the history and to share a call to reconciliation, healing, and repair. Three Charlottesville teens are a part of this group, Caroline Bolton, Pia Tavernis, and Margaret Decelio.
They left this weekend, they'll be back in a week, and I just want to call attention to the important project and to offer thanks for their work and their efforts. The other is a little closer to home.
On Saturday, August 8th, the Charlottesville-Albemarle NAACP will be sponsoring a film at Trinity Episcopal Church on Preston Avenue entitled "Jonathan Daniels: Episcopal Martyr of Lowndes County." In 1965, Jonathan Daniels was a 26-year-old Episcopal seminarian who had gone to Alabama in the summer to work on registering voters.
He had been arrested when he was participating in picketing at whites-only stores. On August 20th, he was released on bond, along with 17-year-old Ruby Sales. As they were attempting to enter a store to buy a cold soda, a white deputy blocked their way, pointed his shotgun at Ruby, Jonathan Daniels stepped in front of Ruby, and the deputy fired his shotgun, killing Daniels instantly.
The deputy was charged with manslaughter, not murder. He claimed that he acted in self-defense. He was acquitted by the all-white jury. Ruby Sales was unhurt. She went on to become an Episcopal priest herself, and she worked for many years as a human rights advocate, founding the SpiritHouse Project in Washington, D.C.
To learn more about Jonathan Daniels, I want to encourage people to go see the movie about his life from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM this coming Saturday at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1118 Preston Avenue. Great.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Another announcement. Registration is open for Loop De Ville on Sunday, September 27th. It's a chance to celebrate National Public Lands Day and the 20-mile network of trails around the city of Charlottesville, so you can head to loopdeville.org and check out all the events.
Quick question. Jen, does that cost anything? It is totally free. Great. Thank you. Yeah. And Michael, did you have anything? No announcements, but just a question because I know we have a lot of people in the audience tonight.
What will the timeline and type of update you'll be giving be for the homelessness update for the many who are here to speak on that issue during public comment? Uh, that's- I hope that's clear. Yeah.
I'll check to make sure I was following. It's the last action item. It's meant to be a substantive one that is reflective as well as forward, so it'll be a lot of information. Mm-hmm. But there will be that discussion later on in the meeting?
And so is it worth sticking around to hear that? Absolutely it is. Great, thanks. I also have a couple of announcements. On Sunday, August 9th, will be the August edition of the Neighborhood Walk series.
This month it will be in Fifeville. A slight change. Usually, it's in the morning. This one will be in the afternoon, so it's going to meet at 4:00 at Forest Hills Park bike rack. More information about that can be found on Connect Charlottesville.
And then also in Fifeville, on August 13th at the Fifeville Neighborhood Association, there will be a pop-up workshop about the Safer Streets project going on in the Fifeville neighborhood with an opportunity to provide feedback and commentary on the traffic calming proposal for the neighborhood in between Cherry and West Main Street.
So pop those on your calendars. And then if there's no other announcements, we can begin Community Matters. Right, no other announcements, everybody's great? Before we begin Community Matters, I just wanna make a quick note.
Obviously, I will be leading the meeting today. Mayor Wade is out of town. I am Vice Mayor Natalie Ostrin. And just a quick note about Community Matters and the different comment periods that we have.
I want to first thank everyone who showed up tonight to observe and to speak up. It's great to see this level of engagement with local government. We do wanna remind folks that this meeting is for residents and neighbors to hear from the city and to address the city's representatives.
Those of us up here on the dais are here for that feedback. Our small-D democratic values mean that we welcome commentary on all sorts of subjects and a diverse array of opinions. So we do wanna remind everyone to please keep commentary directed towards council, and also during the allotted comment period.
So at the beginning of the meeting, we will have time for 16 speakers. We have eight pre-registered speakers, and then a wait list to fill in those slots if one of the pre-registered speakers is no longer able to attend.
Once the eight pre-registered speakers have taken their turns, I will open the floor to the audience to fill in the remaining spots. At the end of the meeting, we have time for a second comment period if there's anyone who was not able to speak during the first 16 spots and still would like to share.
We know that Charlottesville is a passionate but also compassionate community, so please extend that compassion to those who are speaking by refraining from heckling, interrupting, or behaving in ways that may intimidate speakers, even if you disagree.
And speakers, please keep your comments to three minutes or less, and if you have more to add, please email your comments to council@charlottesville.gov. Thank you so much for your care and understanding And with that, we will begin with Lizzie M.
And please, when you come up to the microphone, say your name and your neighborhood so that we can record that for our minutes. I'm Lizzie M., but I'm ceding my time to D. Hello, my name is Dennis Chambers.
I'm one of the ones in the encampment under Free Bridge, and I'm here today to talk about this shelter that y'all are putting together for us. I'm also in the public workspace group with the representative y'all sent there.
They came to us. I was thinking y'all was going to get our ideas, figure out what we need, and build the shelter to support us. But obviously, y'all don't care what we say, y'all don't care what we think, and y'all just building a shelter just to throw us in there.
There's no way all these people is going to be side by side laying on cots in a shelter. That makes no sense at all. We're not even going to that shelter, not even thinking about that shelter. We're going to stay there until y'all provide something for us that benefits everyone there, not just something y'all could just say on the news, "We did this, we did that for them." We're not going for that.
We did not cause this problem. We did not cause this. I got there in August of last year. There was maybe 12 people there, and out of the 12, you might've seen four. Y'all news crew kept coming down there, putting it all on the news, sending out invites.
Now you got all these people from all over everywhere showing up there. Now it's crimes and all kind of stuff going on. But y'all don't make the news about that. Y'all don't say, "We caused this problem.
We got this girl out here raped. We caused that." There wasn't none of that going on till y'all news crew came down there and all these different people showed up. But again, the thing is the housing problem.
We're building this shelter for people. They have dogs. There's people down there with mental health problems that need help, and y'all not providing nothing for them. There's people with dogs. There's couples.
How are we all going to be in this one place? Someone may be allergic to dogs. Someone may have mental health. They can't be around people. They need their own space, but none of y'all are talking about that or thinking about that.
The people that are making the decisions are not the people that need to be making decisions. Y'all need to have somebody in the room that's out here, that's homeless, that knows what's going on. None of y'all are homeless.
Y'all go back home to your beds, curl up, wake up, get back, come to work. Y'all don't know what's going on. Y'all don't know what's wrong with these people. Y'all don't know the help or anything that they need.
Y'all don't know that because nobody's asking that question. Nobody's down there to see none of that. Y'all came down there, done a little quick survey, and I was told y'all don't even know what y'all going to do with the information y'all got from the survey.
That's the crazy thing. How y'all going to do a survey, but y'all don't know what y'all doing with it? And there's nobody in these meetings that is speaking up for us. Thank you. Next, Melanie Roberts.
All right. James McKinley Oakes. Thank you. Hello, everybody. My name's Jim McKinley Oakes. I speak for the Court Square Enslavement Memorial Group, and I live in downtown Charlottesville. We've been asked by Mayor Wade, Mr.
Frees, and others to provide further evidence that local descendant groups support our project to restore the sign for the site of the slave auction block. We've done so and can deliver again. The UVA Descendants of Enslaved Communities, Swords into Plowshares, and the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center descendant groups wrote to you in April to, quote, "Support the honoring of the site of the slave auction block with appropriate community-guided memorialization." Our group has also provided counsel with statements from two other groups who asked for your confirming vote.
On August 17, 2020, a group presented to the City Council a petition with 75 signatures. The petition reads, quote, "We, the undersigned, request the following without delay: Install slave block marker on East Jefferson Street." On October 13th, 2025, two of our members attended the monthly NAACP meeting and obtained signatures from 20 NAACP members stating, quote, "I am a descendant of enslaved ancestors.
I request the City Council to immediately replace the curbside reworded auction block sign that has been demanded repeatedly by so many." Unquote. In anticipation of a scheduled vote to restore the sign, you've been receiving numerous emails from concerned citizens.
Do you now feel that you have enough information and enough support to approve this project? Please listen to all these constituent voices. Please don't postpone any longer. Please put this in your August 17 agenda and vote yes Please put this on your August 17 agenda and vote yes.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Andrew Gray. Hi, my name's Andrew Gray. I live in Albemarle County, about a quarter mile from the city limits. My wife works down at the hospital. We frequently go to Main Street, Downtown Mall, the Riverview Park, et cetera.
I've had Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with men who lived on the street. I cared for one when he lived in the hospice house while receiving treatment for stage four cancer at UVA. As the chemotherapy and cancer ravaged his body, and his doctor-prescribed opioids devastated his digestive system, I gave him rides and helped him score some pot so that he could have an appetite and keep some food down in his dying days.
He was my uncle. I loved him. He was a member of my family. Two of my dad's brothers spent most of their adult lives living on the street. As far as I know, they were never diagnosed with mental illness, and I never saw them display symptoms of schizophrenia or other erratic behaviors.
As I understand it, they just didn't like to work, and they liked to drink and get high. And they both committed a litany of petty crimes. And they both knew how to make women uncomfortable, and they both died as a result of their lifestyle decisions.
But despite that, they were always welcome to a place at our table or to stay for a couple nights. It often ended in them stealing from someone in the family and getting kicked out as a result, but they never turned down free housing.
They hated staying in shelters. They told me directly they preferred living outside to the close company and odors of some of their companions in the shelters. People say housing issues are complicated.
I don't think they are. Human beings have a right to housing. Yes. At the same time, the people of Charlottesville have a right to walk through parks without sexual harassment, the businesses have a right to not be stolen from, and our adults and our children have a right to recreation near the river without worrying about environmental hazards like needles or finding themselves in the eyes of one of the rapists who was there, who was arrested recently.
It doesn't really matter what the fault is. The cost of public safety is extremely high right now. Any forced removal is only a temporary measure at best. There's nothing to stop people from coming back and doing as they please.
There's a well-studied and provable correlation between high rent prices and high levels of homelessness, so it's no surprise that Charlottesville has a problem in both regards. It's also a well-studied and provable correlation that building more housing lowers rents.
That means solutions are available to the city. The city has an obligation to promote higher density housing and development in all facets. There should be more public housing. The city needs to accelerate low-barrier shelters, and as the other gentleman noted, permanent housing for our most destitute.
The city needs to accelerate permitting for more apartments and higher density housing. Turning a parking lot into an apartment building does not displace any residents. And even if the rent is more than some would like, it lowers competition for the other units.
It's common sense and well-studied economics. As the city's leaders, you have a moral imperative to build and to ignore criticisms that delay that process. We can't let perfect be the enemy of good. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Mr. Knorr. Sorry, I can't see your first name. I have to call you Mr. Knorr. Good evening. My name's Jamie Knorr. I was co-founder of Village School, which is located on the corner of High and Third.
It's a middle school for girls. I was a history teacher at Village School, and each year I would walk my sixth grade class to 0 Park Street. There we would read a chapter in Mary Lyon's young adult version of Harriet Jacobs' Letters to a Slave Girl, Letters of a Slave Girl.
After reading the chapter describing a slave auction, students were often jolted by the realization that where they were sitting was exactly the same spot that 150 years earlier, the events described in the chapter in the book that we just read actually took place.
In this moment, book learning for those girls became lived experience. History became alive. 0 Park Street is on the historical walking tour of downtown Charlottesville. Those on the tour may feel the same jolt of recognition that students had.
Looking up, visitors may see the nearby steeple of a church a couple blocks away, just like those in the mid 1800s standing at the very same site. History comes alive and is very relevant today when visitors ask, "How did enslavers reconcile their actions with their Christian beliefs?" Charlottesville's unique situation is that 0 Park Street is the original building where the enslaved were confined before an auction.
It was typical that the slaves would be washed, and their skin oiled before an auction to make a better impression on buyers. Having the original building alongside the auction site give visitors the pathway for feeling the full weight of history.
Having signage at the auction site is critical. Signage invites the passerby to stop and think Their thoughts may take them to the recognition that here, on a public street with cars passing by, is hallowed ground.
Here, eyes saw and ears heard what never should have been experienced. Here, many hundreds of hearts were broken as loved ones were sold away to the highest bidder. Please restore the signage for this site, which has broad support in Charlottesville since it was removed 24 years ago.
Thank you. Isis Newman? Okay. My name is Isis Newman. Something I feel a lot of frustration with is that the city lies a lot about what their intentions are and why they do the things they do. And more than I am bothered by their lies, I am bothered that there's people in the city that believe those lies when the city's actions so clearly show the opposite.
For example, earlier this year, a man was found dead at the encampment. His name was Anthony Spears, but he went by Tony. The city has used this as an excuse to further harass and displace people, and then the city lies and says it's because they care about those people.
I cared about Tony. I can tell you what I did because I care. I wear his ashes around my neck every day in this necklace. I went to his celebration of life and met his family in Amherst. I walked down the trail on the day he died when I found out there were people that hadn't heard and made sure everyone knew their friend passed away.
I got a memorial tattoo on my leg. I wood-burned a memorial bench that is now in the field where his tent was, and that I'm sure the police will remove when they come to sweep the encampment. I think that those are the kind of things that we do when we care about someone's death.
What the city's doing is disrespecting his death. Imagine that you died, and in response, the city evicted all your friends. That is more than I would do to my worst enemy. Do not lie in our faces and tell us that you care.
I hear the recent reports of sexual assault as a reason for displacement. Were there any women who have experienced assault or rape or intimate partner violence while on the streets consulted? No need to answer.
That's what's called a rhetorical question. We all know that the answer is no, because being pushed into more isolated spots isn't what creates safety. Otherwise, they can be there on their own. Stop lying to us and saying that you're doing this for people like them.
I remember being 19 and homeless. I was seeing a guy, and on days it wasn't raining, we would stay in a hammock close to town, but on days of rain, we stayed in a tent way back in the woods. I remember one day when we were in that tent, and he was mad that I was doing prostitution.
He started choking me out, yelling in my face, "Is this what the F you want? You want to effing die? This is what the F is going to happen if you keep selling yourself." No one could hear him. If I could've gotten his hands off my throat long enough to scream, no one would've heard me.
If I could've made it out of the tent, it's very unlikely I would've made it to help before he caught up. Luckily, he let go, and I left the state a few days later. But that night could've ended very differently.
Being isolated from people that could potentially help in situations like that is not safety. The September 1st displacement will be putting women in more danger. What you are doing puts people in danger.
Do not pretend otherwise. I am down at Free Bridge nearly every single day. These are people who I love, who I respect, who I cherish, who I care for, and I will not stand by and watch the city harm and disrespect them.
Yes. Thank you. Heidi Bertaux? Thanks. Hello. My name is... Is this on? Hello, my name is Heidi Bertaux, and I speak for the Court Square Enslavement Memorial Group, and I live on River Vista Avenue. Good evening, council.
First, I'd like to appreciate you for all that you do. You are indeed selfless servants of our community with an eternally large agenda. That said, we are disappointed not to be on the agenda for tonight, which actually might be good as we all come to understand better what the hold up is.
Many folks have written to you asking you to vote yes to restore the slate plaque that honored the site of slave auction block to 0 Park Street. Some of you have responded with your concerns, and I thank you for that.
This is what we heard from you most recently. Do we agree with the content of the historical marker that was installed at Court Square in March of 2025? Yes. Yes. And bravo, and thank you for that. Is it appropriate to add another sign in addition to this one?
A resounding yes. How could we possibly overdo reporting of this very neglected history? There is so much catching up to do. Is there historical evidence of a slave auction block at 0 Park Street in East Jefferson?
The city installed a slate wall marker in '62, removed by city in 2002. The Black descendants community appealed to the city many times in the last 24 years for restoration of the sign and clearly endorses this project.
The historic marker installed in 2025 by the city identifies five exact locations where slaves were sold at Court Square: courthouse, Swan Tavern, Eagle Hotel, a tree stump, and Number Nothing's indoor slave market.
It omits a sixth crucial location. The authoritative book, 1828 to 1874: Early Charlottesville, Recollections of James Alexander, informs that this block sat immediately to the south of Number Nothing beneath the wall sign Benson & Brothers Auction Rooms, which is still visible but very faded.
We do not claim this to be the only slave auction site, nor auction block in the city. But this block is the only documented block at Court Square proper, where between at least 1815 and 1865, hundreds if not thousands of local Black residents were being trafficked out of town.
Historic preservation officer Jeff Warner can verify this particular block's authenticity. Would you please confirm with him? Please get us on your agenda to approve this simple project to respect our Black ancestors and descendants.
Thank you for listening. Thank you. Josh Epstein. Woo. Hi. My name is Josh, and I've lived in Charlottesville for most of my life. And I'm here to speak about the treatment of the unhoused community in Charlottesville.
I'm just going to start by saying, I don't want to be here at all. I don't enjoy public speaking, and I'm guessing you all don't really enjoy hearing what I have to say either, but here we are. I will also say that it really should not be my job to explain the concepts of basic human decency to you all, the City Council, but here we are.
This is a problem of your own making. The city chose to forcefully move unhoused people into the Free Bridge encampment with no plan for the future. Some of those people had been moved multiple times already.
Now, the residents are being surveilled and harassed daily by the police and others, and they are being told that they will be arrested if they do not leave within the month. So tell me, please, what are they supposed to do?
The current plan, which I've heard, is hastily repurposing an unrenovated building and stuffing a bunch of bunks into a single room is ridiculous. I know that the shelter will be an amazing resource for some people, but for many, that simply isn't an option.
If you actually ask the residents of Free Bridge, you would quickly learn that it just isn't feasible. For those with pets, mental illness, belongings that they don't want stolen, or people who just simply don't want to live there, what is the plan?
As far as I can tell, there is none. Simply move in or get arrested. I shouldn't have to tell you that that is both unreasonable and inhumane. Luckily, I have a solution. It's actually incredibly simple: accessible housing.
I'm going to say it again. Housing. It's very simple. I've lived here long enough to see how much this city loves building housing. I've seen apartments pop out of nowhere. I've seen brand-new neighborhoods and student housing appear from one school year to the next.
So how come all of a sudden, there just isn't enough? The answer is that there is enough. Do not pretend that your hands are tied. We do not believe it. If the City Council actually cared for their community members as they are supposed to, housing for everyone would be available today.
What we're asking for is simple. Please stop harassing our neighbors. Please, no forceful displacement. And please, for the love of God, act with some humanity and compassion. Thank you. Jennifer Grant.
Hi, I'm Jennifer Grant, and I am on the Free Bridge side down at the Rivanna River. I have spoke and spoke and spoke about the concerns that we all have down there, and we're not getting heard. We're not getting answers to our questions.
We're not saying that we will not give the shelter a try, but we want answers to our questions. We want to know, are these people trained to deal with mental health people that might have an outburst in the middle of the night?
Are these people trained to deal with situations that are going to go on? The salary that you guys will pay these people to come in and work at this shelter, they don't know anything about the residents of Charlottesville.
They don't know anything about Charlottesville period. That is absolutely incredible when it could go to housing. The building is not even up to structure. You can't even give us an idea of what we're going to be sleeping on.
You cannot even give us an idea of what is going to be in there. We don't have anywhere to put our stuff, storage-wise. So as of today, I will say, you will be locking up a lot of us down there. We are not going anywhere.
Until you can give us answers to our questions, until you can get to know us, until you can give us feedback to everything that we have asked wisely. And I think we've been very respectful to a lot of folks that have came down there.
We have not given any problems. We have a lot of people now that have barricaded their selves in their tents and do not even want to come out to get ice and water because they are so depressed. We have people down there that have not been taking their medical medications because they are depressed, because they have gotten shipped from one place to another, to another, to another.
It is not fair to people with mental illness. You need to come down there and listen to us, listen to our needs, listen to where we're at in life. Get to know one another, not just for five minutes and then run off and say, "Okay, we'll talk about this later." There is no talk about it later.
We're down to 30 days, less than 30 days. It's not going to happen We have plenty of people that will say, "We will go to jail," but when we come right back, guess where we're going? We're going right back to Free Bridge.
We don't care. We really don't care until you can literally give us answers. That's all we're asking for, is answers. There's no reason why you cannot put us somewhere that we are comfortable with. You have people that are on mental illness meds that go to sleep at 9:00.
They don't want to be around people that stay up until 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. That's not fair. Mm-mm. Putting people into a building that has not even been up to par, cleaned, anything, don't even have an elevator for people with medical needs.
What are you going to do about that? It's not fair at all. So look into something different. You've got Kmart parking lot, you've got the mall, you've got Rose's, you've got everything that can be turned into little apartments.
Yeah. Thank you. We now have space for some additional speakers. We'll start over here and go and come back. Yeah, you may go first. Please, again, your name and your neighborhood. Donna Tietjen, Charlottesville.
Thank you. Before we discuss policy, we need to talk about trauma. Trauma's not simply a difficult experience, it's what happens when a person's brain and body are overwhelmed by fear, loss, violence, and instability.
It changes how people respond, how they cope, and how they survive. For many people experiencing homelessness, trauma did not begin with losing a house. Many have survived abuse, violence, serious illness, untreated mental illness, addiction, and profound loss.
Living outside compounds that trauma through exposure to danger, extreme weather, sleep deprivation, theft, and constant uncertainty. Now, another layer of trauma is being created. The threat of forced displacement and arrest, combined with 24-hour surveillance cameras, increased police patrols, bright lights throughout the night, and ongoing public harassment and threats, is already causing harm.
Regardless of how these actions are described, the impact is that people are being watched, monitored, and made to feel unsafe in the place where they were trying to survive. The harm is already happening.
It does not require a sweep to occur. We are seeing people so overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty about what will happen next, that they are remaining inside their tents rather than engaging. That is a trauma response, and re-traumatization has health and safety consequences.
When people are pushed further into survival mode, they are more likely to lose trust, disengage from services, and rely on unhealthy coping strategies. For people with substance use disorders, extreme stress and instability can increase the risk of relapse.
Mm-hmm. After periods of reduced use, relapse can significantly increase overdose risk. For people experiencing mental health challenges, re-traumatization can increase the risk of crisis. These are foreseeable consequences of policies that create fear and instability instead of safety and trust.
Trauma-informed care requires transparency, choice, and relationships, yet the city's outreach began only after it announced the September 1st displacement plan. People who are not known or trusted by those living in the encampments are now requesting deeply personal information, including medical history, social security numbers, without established relationships, clear information about how that information will be used, or meaningful choice.
That is not relationship-building. It is outreach conducted in the shadow of displacement. Displacement does not solve homelessness when there is nowhere for people to go. It simply moves people from one place to another while increasing fear, instability, and the risk of crisis.
Communities across the country have moved away from- Thank you ... enforcement first responses and toward housing first trauma-informed responses because people are more likely to achieve stability- Donna, do you mind?
... when they're offered safety, trust, and real housing options. Do you mind? Can you talk to Keita and spell your last name for her, please? She has it. Is that all the time? Okay. Thank you. Yes. Okay.
Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. In the middle here. Yes, sir. Thank you. Good evening, Council. My name is Mike Henrietta. I've lived in Tenth and Page neighborhood, and other neighborhoods, for the last couple decades, and I speak for the Court Square Enslavement Memorial Group.
And to help answer some of your questions, I'm presenting you with a photo, which is an example of the long-missing sign that we are proposing for you to restore. The sign could read, "Site of auction block for enslaved people," or, "Site of enslaved people's auction block." The slate plaque historic marker could be placed on a public lamppost on East Jefferson Street, adjacent to the corner of Zero Park Street.
We are not asking for the sign to be returned to the south-facing wall of number nothing on East Jefferson Street, as it is a private building. I also speak for our leaders who have recently died. Eugene Williams, Marie Baker Khols, Herbert Porter Jr., Reverend Dr.
David Garth, and Kirk Bowers. Some of them have labored on this project for up to 24 years, particularly Marie. Eugene and Herb, who we buried last Monday. Colonel Robert Guest could not be here tonight due to serious fall leading to hospitalization.
Please do not delay on this project any further. If council has further questions about the veracity of slave auction block operations in Virginia, there are two highly authoritative references on how slave traders operated using auction blocks.
These books, "The Ledger and the Chain" and "Weevils in the Wheat," provide clear data about how the auction block functioned. Last November, historic preservation Officer Warner confirmed that the long-lost auction block at 0 Park Street in East Jefferson was recovered and is securely stored with a chain of custody.
This is a very simple and inexpensive project, especially compared to the amazing and ambitious park memorials that Swords into Plowshares have championed and you have approved, and the fabulous memorial that UVA descendants of enslaved communities have designed and installed, and we will cover the cost.
We will cover the cost. Our group will cover the cost. Thank you. Anyone over on this side? Yes, ma'am. Hello, my name is Anne Coughlin, and I'm a professor at the University of Virginia, School of Law.
I teach criminal law. I came to this meeting in response to some outreach that I got, and I wasn't planning to speak, but I feel compelled to say something about criminalization in this space. Of course, I know that you're all thinking about policy here, and you've had many eloquent comments from people about the encampment and about the policy that you all should be following.
I just wanted to add my voice to say the following. As you know, we all have a constitutional right to liberty and a guarantee of due process of law. And what really worries me when I'm listening to this debate is the concept that you're not giving people sufficient notice about what your plans are before you're moving them out of the space where they currently are living, spaces where you encourage them to go and live, the only space that apparently is available to them.
They're suddenly being moved with very limited process and a very limited amount of voice in the proceedings. Again, I'm sorry I didn't prepare my remarks thoroughly. But you really want to think before you take this step of putting this entire group of folks, our neighbors, our friends...
I walk in Riverview Park all the time. I walk through the encampment. I don't feel frightened. I feel worried. I wonder what I can do to help, and that's why I came here tonight. But what I would suggest you do before you decide that you are going to make it a crime to be homeless, because that is what you are doing, that you really think about giving people the process that they deserve.
I also, since I'm a lawyer and I think a lot about optics, I'm not sure that there will be lawsuits brought against you, but you would want to think about what those lawsuits would involve, the amount of resources that they would take, the attention that they would garner, and the way that that would distract us from the really important thing that we need to do, which is to provide housing, a basic human right for people.
Again, I don't know what your thoughts have been about what crime. What is the crime for which you are going to arrest folks? Being in public? Being homeless in public? Sleeping in public? It's a crime to sit in public.
These are issues that I study, that I teach to my students. I'll be teaching this on the first, well, no, second day of criminal law. So I really, really urge you to think about what the elements of the crime are.
The other thing that I wanted to say in response to a couple of the comments that I've heard today is that it's really, I think, facile and wrong of you to suggest that you are moving people out of these spaces because of crimes that are being committed there.
Of course, there are crimes committed there. There are crimes committed in every home in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. And no- Thank you very much. Sorry. Yeah, I get it. Thank you very much. Anyone over here?
Good evening, Vice Mayor Oshrin, councilors, Mr. Sanders. I'm here on a different, but in some ways related topic. First, thank you for supporting in a thoughtful way the 801 West Street at IPP. It's a great example of generational stewardship of a property in the 10th and Page neighborhood.
But what I really want to talk about for most of my time is that here in Charlottesville, we're still more in the Vinegar Hill Urban Renewal Project and its lack of a community-oriented decision-making process.
So I'm also here to speak about the gutting of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. In 1963, when I was in eighth grade at the Old Lane High School, I watched Vinegar Hill come down, building by building, street by street, until the whole neighborhood was gone and all the old familiar places.
But Charlottesville was not unique. Destroying and fracturing Black and Brown and immigrant communities happened all over our nation. Mm-hmm The outcry about these special places that were destroyed by urban renewal and interstate highways caused our Congress to pass, and President Johnson to sign into law, the Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
A key component of that act is a legally requirement for Section 106 participatory process, whereby local, state, and tribal governments, local residents, and nonprofits can become consulting partners to influence, moderate, or mitigate harmful effects of a federally funded, licensed, or permitted project.
Had 106 existed earlier, perhaps Vinegar Hill would've had a different outcome. And today, data centers, transmission lines, along with the Gilded Arch, the Kennedy Center, the Reflecting Pool, detention centers, and some housing, and oil and gas extractions from national parks and forests would invoke Section 106, but would not, as this draft is being rewritten.
Two weeks ago, in an unusually hurried and unprecedented action, this president's appointed US Advisory Council for Historic Preservation voted to gut Section 106 to eliminate the consultative process and eliminate whole categories of resources such as parks, cemeteries, bodies of water, and places of cultural spiritual value.
The rewrite would place all authority in the hands of a federal government that would not be required to take comment into account. The public can still make comment on this rewrite, but we don't even have a date yet.
But we anticipate it will be a very short time period when it comes, maybe only two weeks. So we need to be prepared, and that's why I'm talking to you tonight. So it won't be a surprise, and some of you may already be following this, I don't know.
This is not just a preservation issue, it's a public information and engagement issue. This revised act would make us all- Ms. Keller ... vulnerable and at the mercy of the federal government. Thanks.
Thank you. I hope you will engage in this process. And by the way, as soon as possible- For the record, can you s- ... try to eliminate the student housing incentive in traditional- For the record, can you state your name and neighborhood?
Oh, sorry. Thank you. Jackie Keller, North Downtown, and speaking for Preservation Piedmont. Thank you. Anyone in the room? Yes, ma'am. Good evening, Council. I'm a Charlottesville resident in ZIP code 22901.
I hold a master's degree in public health and health policy and organization, and have studied hard to achieve that degree. The city's current plan to forcefully remove Free Bridge residents is neither healthy nor organized.
Signs and QR codes that lead to a reporting system have been placed in the encampment. That QR code leads to a reporting system as well as utility issues. Who does this help, I ask? How are unhoused people expected to scan this QR code, unless it was never for them at all?
Mm-hmm. Needs assessments were done. Who has access to this data? What will be done with it? The people whose sensitive information that you collected don't have those answers, and do not have control over their own stories and information.
Police have patrolled on four-wheelers day and night, bright headlights waking and disturbing sleeping folks at all hours. Headlights at the perfect height to blind somebody sleeping in a tent. Mm-hmm.
You are robbing the precious sleep of a group of people who need rest more than any of us in this room. Amen. The cameras, how much did those cost? And I mean the first and the second time. Who do those protect?
Because it is not the Free Bridge residents who are being surveilled. Holiday Drive, you do not know the number of beds. "As many as it takes," is the quote that we were given, and how many is that? You have no staffing infrastructure.
You don't even know if it will be open overnight or just during the day. You don't know when it will be open. You can hope, you can aim, you can promise, you can say as soon as possible to the public, but we all know that Holiday Drive will not be a viable option by the deadline that you have imposed.
But you know you are upheaving people who have made their livelihoods and survived for up to 25 years in that spot. I personally know someone who has been waiting on the list, second on the list for 20 years on this housing list, and been told he's next in line.
You are evicting him and all of our neighbors with nowhere to go except jail, because you have made it very clear that you will arrest the people who stay. Lieutenant Wade said, quote, "He wants people to land on their feet and have dignity during this process." We are not feeling dignified.
You are not preparing our neighbors to land on their feet. I ask you, where will people go if Holiday Drive is not open, and you are forcing people to leave Rivanna, where will they go? We need mental health resources, and no one's been offered a real alternative.
This is not connecting people to resources. This is not meeting their needs. You have pandered to the public, harassed and surveilled, and set a deadline 30 days from today that you know you will not meet, and our neighbors will suffer the consequences.
I welcome and urge you to contact me or others after this meeting to talk about true solutions. Thank you. Can you say your name, please? Rainee Leibel. Thank you. Is there anyone else over here? Back to the middle.
Anyone on the left side? Sorry. It's all right. Yes, sir. Hi. My name is Joshua Ballou. I've been in Charlottesville since 2017. Since then, I have seen several people commit crimes, be inhumane to people, beat, torture, rape several people, and those were all city officials or functionaries that were by them.
No exaggeration. I stand here looking at this trail as the place they told us to go when they said that we couldn't stay under the bridge when everybody was on the backside at one point, nobody was seen, and was not bothering a soul.
Mm-hmm. Until they decided to flood it four times- Mm-hmm ... within one year. Which I looked into. The last time it wasn't raining here or anywhere else. There wasn't any reason whatsoever for them to flood it the last time, of last year, and yet they did.
I don't know. The proof is right there in that. You can look it up. Right now, they say these cameras are for safety. I'm gonna bring that up since so many have. And if they're for safety, then I'm wondering why there are only two, that I can literally walk and show you that most of the people that are actually living on the trail are not on that camera whatsoever.
There are several access points that are not on that camera whatsoever, that people can walk onto that trail and mess with people that are not protected by those cameras in any way, shape, or form. Right now, the biggest problem of it is that thing looks right at my tent, where I can't walk out my front door without being seen.
Mm. I can't sit in my yard, I can't go over and set up the shower without being seen, without being watched. Mm-hmm. I'm just getting tired of every time the city says something to me, it gets proven wrong, or it gets proven it was a lie, or they say stuff before they even check if they can do it or not.
Mm-hmm. Like, where are the showers y'all promised us? You put two bathrooms there, but you put them in the middle of the field that's on the river side of it, the Rivanna River torrent, sorry. And from the bamboo to there is about a mile walk.
Mm-hmm. And there's people living in the bamboo too, so to walk a mile to go to the bathroom is a bit much. Mm-hmm. As far as people stealing, stuff like that, back in 2019, 2020, I was working at College Inn, and would get off work around 2:00 in the morning, walk into Sheetz to get a couple of coffees and a drink and some cigarettes.
I watched more college students steal from that store- Sir, thank you ... than any of my people. Thank you. Is there anyone else over here? Anyone else left would like to speak? Okay. Thank you so much.
That wraps up this public comment period. Again, there will be another public comment period at the end of the meeting for anyone who did not get a chance to speak this go around. And again, in just a few minutes, we'll have a discussion of an agenda item about allocating 4 million in part to a low-barrier shelter, if anyone's interested in that conversation coming up.
And also at the 4:00 PM session, we had a briefing, so if you missed that, worth going back and checking that out, which is available on the city's website in the agenda. You can watch the video there once it's published after this wraps, and there's also a live stream through a live stream, Bo- Boxcast ...
Boxcast is our live stream service. Thanks. If you would like to leave, I'll give you a second to depart, so that we're not reading the consent agenda over the sound of seats. But please, we do encourage you to stay to watch the rest of the meeting.
All right. Kina, or Ms. Thomas, pardon me. Please read the consent agenda. Okay. And we ask that you all keep it down as you exit. Thank you. Consent agenda number three, minutes from May 4th, the regular meeting.
Four, resolution appropriating funds for the Virginia Department of Education Special Nutrition Program, Summer Food Service Program, $40,000, second reading. Five, an ordinance amending and reenacting Chapter 2, Article 15 of the Code of the City of Charlottesville, the Charlottesville Human Rights Ordinance, second reading.
Six, resolution allocating Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund grant program funding for Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority South First Street, Phase 2 in the amount of $425,000, second reading.
Seven, ordinance adoption for 801 West Street, zoning text amendment, designation of individually protected property, second reading. Eight, an ordinance for 801 West Street, zoning map amendment designation of individually protected property, second reading.
Nine, a resolution to authorize $204,017 in additional funds for the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail, one of two readings. 10, a resolution to appropriate Albemarle County Human Services funding to the Department of Human Services for the Community Action Youth Internship Program, $63,000, one of two readings.
11, a resolution to appropriate additional $45,330.18 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, HIV Grant, one of two readings. Twelve, resolution for a compromise of claim, water and wastewater leak credit for $13,074.68 for CRHA.
Thank you. Any questions, comments? We vote. I would move approval of the consent agenda. Do I have a second? Second. All right, please cast your votes. Passes four to nothing. City manager report. Mr.
Sanders, is there a report from the city manager's office? Yes. The first report is actually a presentation from our budget director, Ms. Hamill. Budget's all ready. A little bit different. Good evening, Council.
I'm Chrissy Hamill, budget director. And tonight I just wanted to take a few minutes first to congratulate you. The city's AAA bond rating was just confirmed from both Moody's and S&P. So I wanted to just give you a few quick highlights about that.
So the city has been AAA rated since 1973 from Moody's, and since 1964 from Standard & Poor. What is a credit rating? Basically, it's an independent review of the city. It looks at management, financial policies, our economy, and it's an independent review that gives an opinion as to our willingness and ability to pay or repay principal and interest on a timely basis.
Again, there are three national reporting agencies. There's S&P, there's Moody's and Fitch. To date, we have only ever received or sought ratings from S&P and Moody's. If you look at your credit rating, the vertical axis here, the lower your rating, the poorer your credit quality, the higher the rating, the better your credit quality.
That's hard for me to say in a row. And the horizontal axis is how much of your risk. So the lower your rating, you have more risk of not being able to pay your debt. And then the higher your rating is a minimal credit risk.
So in looking at the review from S&P, they noted several strengths, and these have been pretty consistent over the years. These are quotes from the actual reports. "Our strength is the ability to make budgetary adjustments towards maintaining balance, supported by growing economy and longstanding financial management policies.
Also, we expect," we being S&P, "expect management will incorporate rising debt service costs into the budget while adhering to its adopted debt management policy, leading to our expectation of maintenance of high reserves and cash balances." So a lot of time we stand up here, we talk about policies.
This is evidence that it matters. They are reviewed. It does count in places of how we are scored in terms of our bond rating. Some of the things from S&P's standpoint that could lead to a downgrade is persistent budgetary imbalances, meaning we're drawing on reserves using one-time money without a plan to replenish that and to support operations.
Also, if we materially start to deviate from our formal policies or practices, and then third, if our debt continues to increase outside the norm of our peers, or if it becomes inconsistent with our policies that are currently in place.
Very similarly, Moody's commented that our strength is that we have a robust economic base with high property wealth anchored by UVA. We have strong and stable reserves. Again, this is a common theme supported by formal policies.
Some of the things for Moody's that could lead to a downgrade would be a sustained decline in reserves, a material tax-based contraction with weakening resident income levels, or a substantial increase in our debt burden.
Can I just clarify? Sure. These downside scenarios are things that could happen, not things they're predicting or seeing happen. Correct. Okay. Correct. Thank you. Yes. So for this upcoming bond issue, as you know, a credit rating is done for every bond issue.
So every bond issue is assigned a credit rating. In this particular instance, council has approved or authorized us to sell bonds in 2026. We will be selling roughly about $26.5 million in these following categories.
They flow from your five-year CIP plan. We generally issue the debt based on the timing of the projects. And so many times by the time we're selling bonds, we're reimbursing ourselves for some expenses that have already incurred, as well as getting ready to pay out expenses that are going to occur at least within the next 24 months.
And so to just take a little bit of a deep dive in these categories, these are some of the things that will be funded with this bond issue. I note that as long as we stay within the categories, some of these dollars may shift between projects because as there are delays with projects or as things happen, cost savings, cost escalation, sometimes we can shift the dollars from here or there in terms of the bond proceeds, but these are the current things that we plan to fund in this bond issue And I'll just take a second.
You can look at these categories. Special shout-out to the Riverview Park restroom- Yes ... which we got to open this week. Yes. And that is one where we'll be doing a lot of reimbursement for ourselves, so.
It looks like a jail out there. Just to give you a schedule, so basically we met with the rating agencies two weeks ago, three weeks ago, I think. We received the ratings, both of them, by the end of last week.
We will be issuing what's called a preliminary offering statement. That goes out to potential investors. The sale is planned for August 18th, and then we plan to close and receive the funds by September 9th.
And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. Thanks so much. Starting on this end. No questions. I don't have any questions. Good job. Thanks. Yes, so this was kind of an expansion on our questions from last meeting about more specifics about what the bond issuance was for.
So thank you for giving us a broader view there. Sure. And because the rating reports came back, and they were good news. And congratulations back. Thank you. Congratulations to y'all. For keeping us in line.
All right, thank you so much. All right, just a couple more things. James? Hi. Good evening, Vice Mayor Oshrim, members of council. I'm carrying a message from our utilities department. A reminder that despite what has seemed like a great deal of rain over the last 48 hours, we are still in a drought watch conditions, which means that we are asking residents of the city to voluntarily restrict their use of water.
Restricting our use of water now means that we are less likely to run into mandatory water restrictions in the future should the drought conditions continue. And more information on things you can do or more information about the drought can be found at charlottesville.gov/drought or by searching for Charlottesville and drought.
And I'll simply add in regards to that, just further emphasis that we need all residents to take this serious, and we ask that folks really do what they can to curtail their use of water. If we do not find ourselves being able to do this, and then we have to shift to a drought warning, then mandated restrictions go into place.
It does disrupt business practices as well as some of the things that we are comfortable with. So I would like to just remind everyone to please do your part. Don't let water run while you're brushing your teeth or washing dishes and things of that nature.
Let's do what we can because the heat will come back and take away the rain that we just got. All right. Last bit of updates in regards to community events coming up. There's a bunch of events that are happening as we get ready for kids to go back to school.
Just a shout-out to our friends at West Haven for West Haven Days. That was this weekend. I enjoyed being able to go out and take a look at what was happening and meeting and talking to folks. Tomorrow night, National Night Out at Washington Park from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.
We invite the public to come and participate in what is planned for a series of engagements with the public and our police department, fire department, and others. Sunday, Back to School Bash and Splash from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
It starts at the Boys & Girls Club with Kicks & Cuts Back to School Bash where you can get a haircut, fresh braids, nail services, sneakers, free books, and food. I sound like an advertisement. Then make your way over to Charlottesville Middle School.
All of the area principals will be there to meet families, get you re-registered for school, and provide more information about Back to School night. And then later that evening, Sounds of Summer at Forest Hill Park from 1:00 to 3:00 PM, hosted by Parks and Rec.
We have food trucks, inflatable water slide and splash pad, live music, lawn games, and community partners available to engage with the public. And this coming week is Soul of C-Ville, so Live Arts event on Wednesday.
The Legacy Lounge is from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the Fralin Museum of Art. Best in Black C-Ville Ceremony, August 14th from 7:00 to 10:00 at Live Arts Theater. And the Soul of C-Ville Saturday event after party with a fashion show at IX Park, August 15 from 5:00 to 10:00 PM.
So anyone who says there's nothing to do in Charlottesville, that's not the case in the next few days. That is my report. Okay, great. Thank you so much. Any questions from councilors about any of those?
Mm-mm. Okay, great. Now we'll move on to the action items. The first action item is a public hearing, and the other two are resolutions, so the public will be able to provide comment on this first action item.
Public hearing and resolution for approving a lease of city-owned property located at 708 Page Street and a portion of city-owned property located at 210 8th Street Northwest to City of Promise. Hey, Brenda.
Hi. Good evening. I'm Brenda Kelly, Downtown Strategy Manager, and we're asking for your approval of a lease agreement with City of Promise for the building on the property located at 708 Page Street and also a handicap parking space and ramp associated with that building, and that is located on a portion of 210 8th Street Northwest.
The lease in your package is a standard form lease agreement that has been in front of you before with other properties. This particular property is a two-story building, a little over 1,700 square feet.
The current lease rate is zero. The first year we're proposing under this lease will be a $1 lease rate, and then starting year two, if the lease is extended, will be a little over $4,000 a year, where the summary terms of the lease agreement, it's a one-year lease period with a renewal option up to three additional one-year terms.
A 3% automatic annual increase following year two if extended. We're also asking for a security deposit upfront, as there's never been a security deposit on the property. The premises is leased as is, and the city is responsible for the typical maintenance of facilities and structural elements and systems.
This is a one-reading resolution following a public hearing, so we're asking for your approval. Okay. Thank you so much. Are there any questions, clarifying questions before we open it up to the public?
Okay. Is there anyone who would like to speak on this item? Okay. And just to clarify, I have some questions, just about a couple of quick things. So City of Promise has been in this site for a while now.
Yes. And the city contributes already financially to the organization, correct? I believe they make application through- To DCA ... our opportunities for funding- Okay ... for a not-for-profit. And so we have been auditing our systems and realized we didn't have a formal lease for this, so this is kind of- It was a couple years ago when we did an inventory of all the city-owned properties and was following up with whatever properties we didn't have the proper documentation on, is when we found this.
Okay. So we're kind of cleaning up our systems. Yes. Okay. Great. With no further speakers, the public hearing is now closed. Do we have a motion? I make a motion to adopt the resolution authorizing the execution of the lease agreement with City of Promise for the use of city-owned property located at 708 Page Street and a portion of city-owned property located at 210 A Street Northwest.
Is there a second? I'll second it. I'm sorry. I have one more question. We have space for discussion, so this is within it. I assume City of Promise has reviewed this. Yes, they have. Okay. Thank you.
Okay, now please cast your vote. Okay, and the motion passes four to nothing. Up next, item 14: resolution to authorize an agreement with Charlottesville Albemarle Airport Authority for provision of legal services by the city attorney's office.
Mr. Maddox, thank you. Good evening, Vice Mayor, members of council. John Maddox, city attorney, here to talk to you all about something I'm pretty excited about, is we're going to start getting paid for the legal services that we provide.
When I started this job, shortly after I started this job, 446 days ago, but who's counting, I found on my desk one day a check for approximately $25,000, which pretty good day, right, you think? And I said, "Well, what is this for?" And it turned out it was the annual payment that the Airport Authority was making for my office's provision of legal services, something that they have done, and that we have done since the '80s.
If you know the airport's history, it was previously a joint venture with Albemarle and the city, and we owned that, but then that went away from us. It was given to the new Airport Authority. But this vestige has hung on for a long time.
We've provided legal services to them. Now, the going market rate, and I'm not saying it's right, I'm not saying it's wrong, for legal services is pretty expensive around here. And I'll tell you that $25,000 wouldn't cover the amount that we have been providing to them, and have been providing them on a formula that nobody has been able to actually tell me what it was for a very, very long time.
Hasn't been revised in a long time. So with that in mind, I said, "Okay, so what's the scope of our legal services that we're providing to the Airport Authority?" And nobody had that paperwork either.
So I said, "Well, this is a perfect opportunity to remedy that." So what we did is we engaged with the Airport Authority, said, "It seems like y'all are getting a heck of a deal here," and they agreed.
And they said, "Well, maybe we can come up with some better way to pay. And at the same time, we can also formalize an agreement to say what are the scope of the services that you are going to provide out there." And that is what we have done.
We've entered into agreement with them. The airport CEO and their chief financial officer have signed off on it. I believe it's going before their board next week. Sam, close your ears. You don't need to hear any of this because Sam's on the board.
But what it will do is, for the first year, up from the $25,000, they're going to pay us 75,000 this first year, and then in subsequent years, it's going to go up to 1.25% of their annual operating budget.
And then we'll go up to eventually 1.5% of their annual operating budget, which is, based on the last budget I saw from them, maybe about $160,000 a year going forward. So initial term of five years, then it renews automatically after that.
I'm bringing this before y'all for your approval here because, well, the city code and the state law says that I advise this body. You are my client, so I need your permission, and I would like to have your imprimatur on this agreement so that we can continue to provide those services to the airport.
So that's why I've brought it to you tonight and thought I'd take a little time to explain it to you. So any questions whatsoever, I'd be happy to answer them. Okay. Michael? No questions. I know it's not related to this item, but it just comes to mind.
I hope in the future, we can lean on our Airport Authority to get more proactive about installing solar as well to meet our climate goals and also help their financial sustainability. I know that doesn't have to do with this item tonight, but I have no issues with what's in front of us tonight.
I'm happy to report that there has been a facilitated conversation to have the city sustainability team and county sustainability team engage directly with leadership at the airport about that discussion.
Great. Great We look forward to hearing the follow-up from that. We'll see what comes. Thanks. Any other questions down here? No. How did we come to that proportion? Is that how much work we're giving them?
It's primarily based on, we have agreements with a couple of other organizations around town that we do this sort of thing for. For instance, we have an agreement with the James Madison Regional Library.
That's 2% of their operating budgets. We provide HR, finance, a number of internal services to their department. Same thing goes, the agreement the county has for the Emergency Communications Center. So actually, those are usually 2%.
We like the work. Frankly, my office, it's something different that the attorneys in the office gets to do. We also see the airport is trying to do some interesting things out there, expand, and give us a better facility, so we wanted to help that out.
So we said we would do 1.5 instead of 2%. And the reason why we are phasing it in over time is because it's less of a shock on their budget that way. They've been paying $25,000 for a few years. All of a sudden, here's a big increase.
We agreed to this just to make it easier. Thank you. So in the policy summary that we got, it lists general legal advice and compliance negotiations, claims records review- Mm-hmm ... but not litigation or anything that could adversely affect the city.
So I just want to clarify that's the kind of attorney services we'd be providing. That's correct. There's a lot we can do without having to step into a courtroom, and if we had to step into a courtroom for a minor thing, I feel like we could certainly do that.
But most of the time we're going to be engaging with outside counsel, usually through their insurer, and we would work with them on any issues they might have. One of the things I really care about is the conflict of interest, kind of having some language around that.
Made it very clear in this agreement, but orally and in this agreement, that this is my client, the City of Charlottesville, as represented by its City Council, is my client, and if I even smell a bit of a conflict or some daylight between the two, I would have to tell them they would have to seek other counsel for that particular matter.
Okay, great. And, I don't know what the hourly going rate for attorneys would be for something like this, but let's say it's X number of hours that end up being above $75,000 worth of time. What happens in that scenario?
We still get $75,000. Okay. We're public employees, a lot of us, for a reason. I came from the private sector, other people in my office came from the private sector, and why do you want to be a public employee, Rebecca?
We don't have to deal with billable hours. Okay. And I never want to submit myself to that particular regime again. We're not set up for it in my office. So that's why we agreed to a flat rate, which is more than equitable, I think.
Okay, and it's based on your experience over the last couple of years, or the last 446 days. Precisely. Okay. Great. Those are all my questions. If there are no other questions, would someone like to make a motion?
I move approval of the resolution as presented in the packet. Second. All right. Please cast your vote. Thank you so much. Thanks. And thanks again for finding the things that need to be cleaned up. All right.
Now we're onto resolution number 15, a resolution to authorize the allocation of up to $4 million for emergency sheltering services and direct to housing initiatives in collaboration with the Department of Human Services.
Mr. Sanders. Good evening, Council and members of the public. This being your last action item, I decided I'm going to take a little bit longer because I don't like you having short meetings. I've told you that before.
We have a lot of business to take care of. So I'll go into a little bit of a history lesson before we actually get to discussing the actual item on the agenda tonight. Almost three years ago, I stood before Council and stated that we need to do two things, set a new standard, and manage expectations as it related to homelessness in our city.
And while that in and of itself is not a plan, it was accompanied by what I refer to as community interventions. Downtown Mall cleanliness was one of the items, and we initiated block by block earlier this year.
No dedicated Downtown Mall staff contacts because that was a complaint that was being issued over and over. Brenda Kelly, who you just heard from, is our downtown strategy manager now, and Officer Todd Lucas is a regular on the Downtown Mall.
Insufficient restroom facilities. We have a lease at York Place that we've extended. The Downtown Transit Center has been reopened daily, and we are pursuing a permanent space for restrooms on the Mall in partnership with CRHA.
Unhoused and their collection of things was a question, an issue, and a complaint that came up, and we added a pod in the parking lot of the Salvation Army that is still in use today, and there's more work to be done on that, and we are continuing to look at that.
Containment of items for the unhoused. We disperse bags directly. We supply the Haven and BRAC with items for distribution, and we'll do that again if it is determined to be needed. Sleeping on the Mall was a regular complaint.
Ordinance was presented. Council deferred in favor of alternate place so that we could get an opportunity for people to have a place to go, and we've been working diligently on that ever since. Presence of unhoused in an impaired state.
We continue to evaluate current programming and changes with deeper investments. Region 10 has been engaging with those currently, and we're talking with them about additional things that need to be done.
And the goal would be if we could put more funds in places that matter, we would do that. Existing ordinance enforcement was something that we had heard regularly, that's something that we needed to do, and we've maintained stricter adherence to blocking sidewalks and park closure hours, and that's been part of that response, and we'll continue to look at that.
No low-barrier shelter was available back when we were having that conversation, especially anything year-round, and we acquired 2000 Holiday Drive in November of last year just for that purpose. So that sounds like everything that we had on that list is moving, and it has been moving since, and that in itself might be viewed as a plan by some, but that was back in October of 2023, after we were dealing with what was happening in Market Street Park.
What was also discussed back then is that we needed additional lighting on the Mall. We now have a plan that is under review. I should be getting that shortly, and I intend to invest in making improvements to that issue.
Transitional housing was something that we talked about needing so that we were not just simply focusing on a shelter as a place for people to go, but it's a place for people to go and then a place from where people also continue to move.
We've had multiple opportunities in place so that we can ensure that with the opening of a year-round shelter, we will have transitional housing services as well. We've looked at a number of things, and we do recognize that congregate shelter is not the preferred option.
It is an option for us to have available as soon as we possibly can, and then we can grow from that, and that is the intention. We also knew that capacity within our continuum of care was not there, and we needed to continue to focus on that, and we have been doing that, and I have more to share with you in regards to what we've done.
So the city has been doing a number of things since 2023. $250,000 capacity grant has been awarded to BRAC as a designated fundamental agency, something they do not compete for, making sure that funds are available.
Those funds have now gone to supporting the street outreach staff that they are adding to their team right now. We just funded the summer point-in-time count because data matters, and it's important for us to have two data points each year, the winter normal point-in-time count and now the summer point-in-time count.
And there's a grants and data manager position at BRAC. The city funded that as well. $1.9 million of your surplus was allocated in the spring of 2024. It was for street outreach staff. We didn't use it at that time, but the three staff members that Ms.
Graves mentioned to you that she was adding to the Department of Human Services staff will become a reality because of those funds. Those funds will be deployed for that purpose. $280,000 was made available for a bathroom facility on the downtown mall, and those are the funds that we are using in this conversation with CRHA, and I'll come back if there's a need for more.
Downtown Mall ambassadors were deployed in February of this year with Block by Block taking on that responsibility in a two-year pilot. Our goal would be to continue to see that produce the results that we were looking for.
$500,000 has been included in each annual budget since we had this conversation. Those funds have been critical funds for us to make sure that last year we had gaps with BRAC, POJUM, and PHA that we were able to fill because those funds were readily available within your operating budget.
This year, we're hoping that those same funds can be used for encampment response and to make sure that as things come up, we'll have available resources that we can use. For example, cleaning up the area of the Rivanna Trail would be one of those projects.
$3 million was awarded to the Salvation Army for the Center of Hope Capital Campaign. Those are using your funds. That was to show our support for the work that the Salvation Army is doing and to ensure that their expansion of services would be possible, and we continue to work with them on that.
$7 million was awarded from the state of Virginia through the support of Senator Creigh Deeds. That money is to be split between the city and the Salvation Army. Earlier today, I informed their major that $3 million of that $7 million will be on your agenda at your next meeting.
The point of those $3 million would be to match the city's funds to their Center of Hope campaign, and they will be able to use that to continue to work to close their gap. $4 million will be retained by the city and will be used for transitional housing supports, the next set of projects that we are working on, because Holiday Drive is not where it ends.
And now we're here tonight with an opportunity to fill the gaps in the ecosystem. And these are details that we know are coming together on a daily basis. They're coming together fast. And I do recognize that there is a need for people to have information, and they want information, and in some instances, they want it before it can be available.
We're working to fix that. Our goal is to quickly determine what things we need to do, and we will make that information available as it comes. But tonight, I have in front of you an opportunity for you to invest $4 million to expand the capacity needed to address the persistent problem of homelessness in Charlottesville.
Central Arizona Shelter Services, CASS, has been doing this work since 1984 in the state of Arizona, and they have responded to our request to come to Virginia and work with us here in Charlottesville, and they've accepted that.
And now it is our opportunity for us to benefit from the longstanding work that they've been doing, serving thousands of people for years. Community Solutions and Clutch Consulting have also been invited to come into this community to assist with adding capacity, and they have accepted that invitation.
They've also been met with funders who've been willing to contribute to their efforts so that we can make sure that we are deploying not just a single place for people to go, but additional services to go along with that.
These three partner organizations are working with the city and the continuum of care to broaden our efforts and to fill present gaps to ensure a better opportunity to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-occurring, because that is the goal for all of us.
The internal team that we have assembled is working in multiple directions to finalize details to frame a scope of work for each proposal We are engaged in discussions about staffing, operational planning, construction, and policies and procedures to ensure the establishment of services are in line with what we need and want.
Currently, you have a CIP contingency fund balance of $16 million. We have earmarked funds for key property acquisitions that collectively total about $10 million, leaving you roughly $6.5 million for critical investments such as this.
The city is leading this effort, and I make that clear, that the city is now leading this effort because it has reached a crisis and an emergency response, and we will see to it that transitioning is not really taken lightly.
We want to make sure that we do this right. So the plan is to open a centralized one-stop homeless services center at 2000 Holiday Drive, featuring an overnight shelter, eventually a day shelter, comprehensive set of on-site wraparound services, connection to off-site services, transitional housing options for 18 months to 24 months, longer term stays after we get this facility open, and continued efforts to access permanent affordable housing.
We remain confident that a long-term posture is desired for this shelter, so this is not a short-term proposition. This is to be available, period. And we anticipate a transition from emergency to permanent without ever closing the doors once they open.
That was something that we did not know that we would even be able to do, and now we see that there's a chance to be able to do that. Holiday Drive is 27,000 square feet. It is a two-story building. We can use sections of the building while construction is happening in other parts of the building, and we look forward to being able to continue to serve while we build out features in this building to serve everyone.
And that would include individuals who have pets, and couples, and it will be our goal to figure out whatever additional resources that we need to make available, we now have the space available to make that possible.
Fear is not an operational posture, but a feeling, and that is something that I speak to this entire community because I have received thousands of emails, just the same as you have, individuals with recommendations on what to do.
And in many of those instances, there is no heart included in those statements. I do my work with heart, I do my work with a steady hand, and I do my work without fear because the goal is that we're going to serve the people to the best of our ability, and I think it's important for us to remember that.
Suggesting that no one is working on the problem is an inaccurate statement. We've been dealing with this for a long time. 25 years is the number that I've been embracing. We have to own this problem and commit to the solutions together, and that is all of Charlottesville, and we need to remain focused on what has been accomplished and how close we are to deepening our investments, strengthening our continuum, and dare we say, ending homelessness for more people in this community.
So I'm asking council to approve this item tonight. I'm asking for a four-fifths vote to waive the second reading to make it possible for us to continue to do this work that we are doing right now. Any questions?
Thanks. Yeah. We'll start with some questions. Down on this end. Thank you for that. So just to be clear, the Clutch Community Solutions is looking at- Direct to housing services ... direct to housing services.
Yes. And, CAS is operating- The emergency shelter- ... the emergency shelter ... at this present time. Okay. And the work- And those are negotiations that are active, so that is what we are hoping to accomplish in the next 30 days.
Great. And the transitional housing is an ongoing discussion and looking for that kind of space and property that would best fit that- With movement as we speak. Okay. Things are moving as we speak. Great.
I don't have any other questions. Thank you. Councillors? We can talk a lot about this sort of thing at 4:00. I've got nothing new. All right. Mike? Just for some additional clarity. First, I know you already touched on this, but roughly how much is currently in the CIP contingency fund, and how much will be left after this?
So there's roughly $16 million. You're needing four for this, so that'll leave you a little over two. Mm-hmm. Not including roughly 10 that is earmarked for other things- Okay ... related to acquisition.
Right. And so this $4 million, is all of that going to go to CAS or ... No. The $4 million is actually what we're asking you to set aside within your CIP contingency so that we have it available. It'll be the amount of funds that will be used to pay their contract once we are able to get everything set up with them.
The same for Clutch and Community Solutions. Those numbers aren't exact at this moment because the budgets that were provided were what we labeled worst case scenario, meaning the max capacity. The request from CAS is $3 million to serve 120 people.
And so of this three million allocation, what would be the time period in terms of months that that would cover for them to be able to operate Holiday Drive? 12 months. 12 months. So we would need to, after this, identify a way to either within our own city budget or our city budget in combination with other donors, cover about $3 million annually.
Or more, depending on how we add to the service delivery that we offer. Yes. Mm-hmm. Because this is one time, that's the reason for using your CIP contingency as a one-time source. Mm-hmm. But that's important, though.
This is out of line from usual practice, and we will need to identify an ongoing funding source. Which we go into budget season beginning October 1st. Right. So So obviously we've had that Holiday Drive site for over a year at this point, and the big barrier for being able to be open is there wasn't an operator in order to have 24/7 staffing on site, case management.
Some of the physical updates we need to do to the building need to happen, but they could happen relatively quickly at a lower dollar amount. Right. But that's been the big barrier. Right. CASS solves that, if and when we're able to hire them on.
Can you speak to some of what their model looks like in terms of the kind of rules and staffing they have in place at the low-barrier shelters they operate? The initial test that we have done is that they are very reflective of what PACHM has provided for this community.
So what folks have come to expect as the expectation there is where we are as a floor. The goal would be to work with CASS and make sure that we are able to embrace as much of what they've been using and what has worked, with also recognizing that if there are differences, then we need to work those out.
Mm-hmm. Just to go through some of the questions referred tonight and over the past many months, people have concerns about storage of larger items. What is the- We have way more storage than we actually need at this present time, and CASS's model is that they provide substantial storage for the reason of understanding that people have a deep connection to what they've accumulated.
And they expect that they'll be able to handle that and work with folks to manage that as well. What size storage? I'm sorry, can we get questions, please? No questions. I can give you the answers, though.
The point of that is, again, it is a 27,000 square foot office building. We do not have a concern of storage space at this present time. There will be a need for individuals to reduce what they have and try to bring what they can, but there is storage room available, and it will be a part of the procedures to ensure that every individual who choose to come to this facility will have a place for things to be held away from them and even with them.
We can do both, and that is part of the process that we will be working out with them. Mm-hmm. And I know for PACHM and many other low-barrier shelters, for those who are single individuals, the option of having female and male sides as a choice to be able to go to, will that be able to exist within the facility?
Yes, and we've had conversation about actually being able to keep known couples together. That is something that I've asked about as well. That's a question. We still have to work that out and determine how to go about doing that.
We are very conscious of the idea that in the conversations with CASS, when they simply indicated to us that there was a possibility that we will not have to close the doors, which is what we've been anticipating.
We thought we would open this shelter temporarily, we would have PACHM open, shut this shelter service down, and then reopen it at some point in the near future. That is now not going to need to be the case because we should be able to build around the presence of individuals there because the space is large enough for that.
We have 12 months in this emergency posture as identified by our building official, so we are incentivized to move quickly and make sure that we continue to make improvements to the building. Mm-hmm. Before anyone moves into the building, there will be some minor construction work to be done.
We're finalizing those details, and that is not being paid for by this $4 million. That is being paid for by local philanthropy. Mm-hmm. I know obviously one of the other questions we've gotten is about pets.
Is it known at this point what the approach would be in terms of how they staff the facility? Yes, they've confirmed for us that they do service people with pets, and that is part of their process. So we have to look at their procedures to determine how that is done.
That has not been a practice here. So we are adding to that benefit. So hopefully we can help individuals who have historically not been able to come inside for that reason. Mm-hmm. And not to get us too far afield from this agenda item tonight, but it does raise some things we heard earlier.
If you're able to, could you talk about where Vista 29 currently stands, which is 80 units of permanent supportive housing for people to move out of homelessness into those permanent supportive housing units?
Some of the casework, and you might be able to speak to that directly, but the intention was that we would hope that we could begin to identify individuals who will be eligible for Vista 29, and when those units come online at the end of the year, they'd be able to be transferred to that location.
The folks at Support Works has indicated a desire to be on-site at Holiday Drive once the doors open so that they can directly do that work, and we have intended to make sure that that is possible for them to do.
And is it still the expectation at this point that the construction of Vista 29 would be finished by the end of this year for people to be able to begin to move in? All that I've heard is the end of the year.
Is that the same? Um, I thought it was November 1st. November is that? November 1st is the latest information. Okay, November 1st. And at this point, has the city identified other locations just at a strategic planning level that could be used for additional permanent supportive housing?
We have the Avon Levy site that we own. That's been part of our conversation as to what becomes of that. For me, the desire was to see that we could get a shelter facility in place because it's been missing, that we could get Vista 29 online, get individuals into that space, and then make an assessment as to where we are.
That then helps inform what happens with the Avon Levy site that the city has under control, and we know that there are additional conversations about more permanent supportive housing units coming based on other investments that you've made.
Mm-hmm. And again, as you highlighted earlier, of that $7 million that came from the state, $4 million is earmarked for investments in future transitional housing- Right ... which could either be permanent supportive housing or another type of transitional housing.
Yes. I would hope to do another type of transitional housing that does not exist. Mm-hmm. That exists, but not here. Not here. Thank you. I know those plans are very preliminary. It's a long way to go, but could you speak at all about what that would kind of look like?
The concept that I know that is missing within our continuum is a gap, that if we open a door and say 120 people moved into shelter, it is important for us to start moving people out of that. There's no permanency in that.
That is not the intention. So where do they go? Well, if we don't have enough units available, permanent units that they can sign a lease and be able to sustain themselves, then there might be an opportunity for there to be a mid-step, and the mid-step would be a property that is owned, that is depressed in cost because it's covered by the city, any other entity, and it makes it possible for the rent that is attainable, the individual can make that rent payment, and they can stay there 18, 24 months while they figure out other things, work with case managers, work through wraparound services, and eventually move into a permanent rental situation.
We don't have those units here today, and we need that. That's a mid-step, and that's a step that I wanted to prioritize as a part of this transition effort. Mm-hmm. And final question. With Cass as the operator, is there a sense at this point of what they believe the capacity at Holiday Drive could be in terms of the number of people able to stay there?
Sure. You can put a number of people in a building that size. The question is, how do you put them in that building? It is not lost on me that individuals are worried about being too close to one another, being a big open room.
We have to work to solve various options in that particular space. There will be no bunk beds in this space. We are not talking about cots. We're talking about real beds. The goal is to try to figure out how many we can fit and what that looks like.
But the intention is that if we needed to expand, there's enough room for us to expand once we have finalized making the various improvements that are required. But the scenario for the budget that was produced for the $3.2 million ask is to serve 120 people.
Mm-hmm. And I'll just end with a few brief comments. One, I know it's been several years since you have been actively working on this issue. Very specifically in this seat, yes. Yes. And one of the logjams we've had was just identifying what can a space be for a permanent year-round low-barrier shelter, and a lot happened there.
That logjam was broken with the acquisition of Holiday Drive. Right. Since then, for over a year, the barrier has been who can operate it, and how is that funded? And it's been over a year, I know we've been working with our existing nonprofit partners to be able to staff it and figure out what that would work.
I don't mean that as a criticism of them. I think the capacity locally just didn't exist in order to staff it. Now with the identification of Cass, which Councilor Jen Fleischer has been integral to being make happen.
That's why I just want to highlight this wouldn't happen without her work. But with that logjam being broken, now we can finally move to opening as a low-barrier shelter. And we've had an investment now.
We're looking at $11 to $15 million in homelessness services just in the past few years recently in Charlottesville, and that's a fundamental shift. Absolutely. Still a lot more to do. And the second point I'll make is we have at Vista 29, 80 units of permanent supportive housing opening.
Again, 80 units that could move people out of homelessness into permanent housing, and that project in total has cost a little less than $30 million, and it's been done with a partnership between Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Support Works, Piedmont Housing Alliance, Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, low-income housing tax credits at a national level.
And again, just to build it has been about $30 million, and then there's going to be substantial ongoing costs in terms of maintenance, case managers, other things. And I know there are people in the audience tonight who I think very correctly identified we have to build more permanent supportive housing for people to move into.
And I just highlight that because that project alone has been at least $30 million with those amount of partnerships needed to get it done. We've, as you talked about, identified with Avon Levy a potential site for future permanent supportive housing, looking at other non-permanent supportive housing models as well.
It is very complex, and the city never is able to do it alone. It requires partnerships, years of work, and tens of millions of dollars. And I would encourage anyone in the audience, and I know there are people already doing this kind of work.
If you're interested in it, on your own, look through property listings in the community, see what's for sale. Look at what would it look like to be able to acquire that site. If there are renovations needed on that site, what is the amount of money and work, volunteer labor that would need to go into renovating it?
Depending if it's a multi-unit building, would you need staffing? Would you need case managers on site? What is that going to cost? For those, try to identify if you're going to take out a loan to do that work, what is that going to look like?
What is the interest rate going to be? How are you going to pay back that loan? And I say that not facetiously. There are groups in the community who have done that at smaller scales in the past and been able to open up housing for people who are experiencing homelessness.
And if there are things you identify and you say, "Hey, maybe we could get this done if there was some additional money from the city," you can always come to the city and make that request. Maybe it doesn't get funded, make it through other things we're comparing, but that's the kind of work for years we've been trying to do as a city, and again, we can't do it alone.
And I know, I'm sure with Cass being hopefully hired to operate Holiday Drive, I would just end by I think I've heard this said, it's not about replacing the work of our existing nonprofits locally. It's about expanding our capacity so we can serve more people.
So this really is not about replacing any of the work that's been happening. It's about expanding our capacity overall locally, which just was not sufficient to open a year-round low-barrier shelter at this point.
So that's it for me. Thanks for that. I have some questions too, but I want to kind of jump on to what you've said to add a couple of things that the city's been doing. Not just in the 11 to 15 million that you cited and the list that you gave us, but because we know that shelters are not the end stop- Correct ...
there needs to be somewhere after that, and the jump between market rate housing and shelter is enormous. Mm-hmm. So the city has also been investing over $10 million annually in low income housing, using construction projects all over town, adding units to our low income housing capacity- Mm-hmm, our public housing sites ...
our public housing sites. And then last year, I think that was last year, we also purchased the Carlton Mobile Home Park, which will be redeveloped conscientiously with non-displacement for those residents, while increasing the amount of dedicated capital A affordable housing on that site in town.
So those are additional existing projects that the city is helping fund. Michael went over the various investors and partners that are needed for developing those types of projects. It's called a capital stack.
So it's literally each layer of funding that you need to get the project done, which as you also said, the city can't do that alone. So we do appreciate those partners, while also acknowledging that the hoops and administrative requirements from the federal government needed to access the low income housing tax credit loans make it an expensive and complicated and time consuming process.
So all of that is also going on. We know there is no one project that's finally going to get it, but all of these projects combine to make a system that works, a system that hadn't been developed or invested in enough in the years past, and we are trying to be fiscally responsible while making up for that lack of investment over the years.
So, some questions I have about your presentation. Can you talk a little bit more about CASS? We all hear Arizona in the name and wondering, how did they find us? How did we find them? And what are their operations and experience like that make it a good fit for this project?
And what CASS stands for. CASS stands for Central Arizona Shelter Services. They've been in operation since 1984. I believe they're operating 16 different locations across the state of Arizona today. They have a robust program that they replicate in multiple communities.
There happened to be an individual on their team who was here because I think their family connection is here, and this individual happens to be here. Through conversations, through one very spirited young lady who has been working very hard on this issue, came across an individual who was interested in having conversations about what we can do based on what we've done, Ms.
Weiser. And from that, we were able to dig deep into this conversation, and we have become satisfied with what we've learned. We still have questions. It's not to say that it's a done deal. That's why there's no contract being presented tonight.
This is just asking for the resources to commit, that the invitation was extended, their board accepted, and now the goal is for us to execute what it means to negotiate, come to terms, and hopefully start a great working relationship that leads to servicing our community well.
Okay, great. So there was a local connection, outreach was made, and it turns out their experience is running shelters essentially just like this. Right. Okay, great. One of their challenges or one of their tasks will be to hire folks to staff this.
Yes. I assume they're going to bring in some professionals, but also hire locally. Is that the idea? The goal is to hire locally. They would love to be able to hire locally across the board, but we know that we have a contracted market because I can't fill every position that the city has.
We've been very clear to them in that conversation. If it came down to it, they would send folks here if we had to, to be able to open up. We don't want to do that unless we just have to. The supports will be there, so I would imagine that some people are going to come out here to help show our individuals how to do it.
But we are in direct conversations with BRAC, with PACHAM, with the Haven, hopefully trying to figure out ways that we can support the staffing needs through their help. Our HR director will be meeting with CASS's HR director in the next few days.
The goal is to try to make sure that we can link with them and do things to support them being able to find the individuals who are interested in doing this work. Okay. So that's another call to look out.
If anyone- It's a call to action, yeah ... knows anybody or has the skill set, please keep an eye on that or page- There are multiple advertisements going out for various positions. They'll be going up very soon.
Okay, great. And you mentioned it's a two-floor building- Yes ... at 2000 Holiday Drive, and I know we had concerns about accessibility. Is the plan for most folks to be on the ground floor? The temporary emergency shelter will only operate on the first floor.
Okay, great. So that means that the second floor will go under construction first. Okay, thanks. And then, something that we've heard a lot is people suggesting other properties around town where shelters might be useful, such as Kmart, and other empty spaces.
How come those are not Part of the conversation right now. Uh- Do we own those spaces? No, we did exhaustive work to try to identify opportunities for space. We landed initially on the Cherry Avenue Thrift Store site because the Salvation Army indicated an interest to be a part of helping solve the problem in a different way.
That was met with pushback, so we ended up having to move past that, and with your direction that you wanted a place before there was ever going to be any consideration of an ordinance of any kind, then the goal was to just find a place that was probably big enough to solve the needs that we have.
The site that we currently have on Holiday Drive was available, has been available for quite some time. I resisted buying it because it was $6.2 million to acquire it. My desire was that we could use that same $6.2 million to do other things, but we would not be able to have a shelter with that $6.2 million.
And then once we exhausted all spaces and I looked at all options that we had, then we came back to Holiday Drive, and that was the reason for buying Holiday Drive. And it's more than just the building today.
There is buildable land that is there as well, so there will be an opportunity for us to consider that down the road. But the 27,000 square foot space was deemed to be more than sufficient for what we were thinking about doing.
Again, not looking at this being permanent, but a place to land before you then begin your journey. That's the whole point. Okay. The Kmart building is not ours. The Kmart building has a restriction by the owners for any housing use whatsoever.
That is the reason why it still sits in its current condition. And it's not for sale? It is not for sale. Okay. Thank you. One other question that wasn't mentioned tonight, but I know our team internally has been working on it, so I just want to mention it.
The transit team at CAT is working on adding bus stops in the area. We're adding a bus stop basically in front of KFC. That was a decision that we made separate from this, but thought that we would improve that area by doing that as well, timing it with this.
That work has already begun, so the design work has already been initiated, and the goal would be that we would get that bus stop there as soon as possible. Separate from that, there has been conversation about being able to create some sort of transit loop from 2000 Holiday Drive, so that not everyone would be forced to walk to the bus stop, that there might be ways for us to do something at the site.
That is a to be determined. That might be something that we could pull off, and I've actually looked into, is there a possibility of us being able to donate a CAT bus to that service? Not a bus, but the smaller ones.
So we're looking at every option that is available at this time. Okay, so there will be both northbound and southbound- That's correct ... a- And that's the reason for adding- ... so be- ... the bus stop, to ensure that it'd be accessible on both sides.
Okay, great. Thanks. Those are all my questions. I just want to note that she's not just a spirited young lady, but she's also a hardworking public health professional and elected official. Yes. So. All those things.
Yeah. Okay, any other questions or- I know- ... discussions? I know this is separate from the agenda item, but it came up. So for our long-term strategic planning on this issue, the Salvation Army Thrift Store is still being examined for potential uses, correctly?
Potentially, yeah. They've indicated that there's still a possibility that they would sell the building. We've indicated that we have an interest in the building, multiple reasons for that interest. So that might be how they close their capital campaign gap as well.
Mm-hmm. That was part of our reason for bringing it up to them. Mm-hmm. And so not only is Vista 29 opening up this year, but when the Center of Hope is open, that's another- It will double the number of beds ...
hundred and some beds as well. Of that's high-barrier shelter- Yes ... but it is shelter. Correct. Okay. And the only other thing is just as, as we were discussing, I would be interested at some point, as I'm sure it's priority planned, just a work session at some point looking at beyond the housing element, Region 10, the system of resources for mental health addiction support because I think that is a whole other can of worms that we have to wrap our minds and arms around as a city.
You're in my head. Yes. Got it. Yeah, I just wanna throw one thing in that loop as well. We are, I mean, thanks to the generosity of the folks that were able and willing to speak with us during the assessment, we have identified a handful of folks who we'd like to get right into housing that's available, working with, again, the CoC and BRAC to make those connections, folks who that might be a good fit if, if they're willing.
So that work is beginning now, but also UVA Health, as part of that assessment team, is working at its highest levels to support both the shelter and the transition as much as possible. That is, we're researching a lot of options there, but particularly clinical mental and physical health clinical services on site at the shelter.
So those conversations have begun, and we're waiting to hear back on how that might expand our offering beyond the robust case management that Cass brings to its shelters, which we will also have here, so that there would be that mental health support in particular on site and better access for guests staying with us.
And again, details are coming together rapidly. I'm in this conversation every single day. And the goal is for us to try to push through and get clarity and get information out. We are working on getting more information out more regularly.
As things are finalized, they will become available. There is no intention of us trying to hold back and keep anyone in the dark. The goal would be that we can quickly figure out what the true details are so that folks can actually begin to make their arrangements.
That is what we want. So we wanna make sure we have everything right before we- That is correct ... announce it. Yeah. And what is our communication strategy? We're still working on that because we've had the assessment team actually being available, so we're still working through what is the best avenue for doing that.
And the goal will be that there's not just one way, because I know that that doesn't work. Okay Any other questions up here? Is there a motion? Wait, I get to do the motion. Yeah. Hold on. And remember, the 4/5 vote is what I'm also asking you to consider.
After this, at the end of the public comment. We have a, not specific for this event, but we have second public comment after this, as long as you weren't called in the first public comment. But you guys vote before we get to give our input on it?
This is not a public hearing. Oh, the 4/5 part is not part of it. So I move that we adopt the resolution to allocate $4 million of Capital Improvement Program contingency funds with waiving our second reading with a 4/5 vote as recommended by the city manager.
Second. All right. Please cast your votes. Computer died. Okay. It passes four to nothing, which waives the second vote. Thank you for the presentation. We are now at the final speaking opportunity for members of the public.
Individuals may raise your hand to be recognized to speak, and each speaker will have up to three minutes. Please remember to state your name and residence. And if you spoke in the first public comment, I'm afraid you'll have to save your public comment for either email or the next meeting.
Who would like to go first? Yep. Ma'am in the cardigan. Hello. My name is Lydia Brunk. I don't live in the city, I live in the county, but I do work in the city, and I just wanted to make my comments known anyway.
First thing I'd like to say is I'd like to have a charitable interpretation of your motivations. I don't think any of you are out there in bowler hats in the middle of the night being like, "How can we make this more difficult for people?" But I do think that being on city council and being part of this machinery of government keeps you caught up in the mindset of the government and a sort of rigidity, inflexibility towards the point of view of these community members who are coming here to share their opinions and their needs.
And the thing I want to say is, I'm hearing so much of like, "We don't know yet. We're figuring it out. One day, eventually." The September 1st deadline was set up by the city, and the city can rescind that and can decide that's not necessary.
Yeah. And I also want to say, if the setup is good, people will go there. Yeah. You're looking at like, there's one side of the piece of the puzzle, which is like we want to provide services, which I don't think anybody...
People are like, "How is the best way to spend the money?" But I don't think anyone's like, "We hate shelters. We would hate it if there was a shelter available." I think people are like, "We hate it that you are going to use this shelter as a way to say, 'Look, we're going to coercively punish you for living outside because this shelter is available,' whether or not it actually is available, whether or not it actually meets your needs." So ultimately, I think you're planning on spending a lot of public money and resources, again, not for me, but for the city, in building this shelter.
And the other question is like, people are currently in a place. Yes, I don't think anyone is like, "This is the best possible option." It's hard to hear about stuff that goes on there that's not great.
But I would like if everyone lived in a house tomorrow, but there's not the money or the will to do that. So barring that, what is it that the people who are actually in this situation want? What is it that they are asking for?
And they are asking not to be displaced. Mm-hmm. And can we give up some of our collective comfort in order to ensure their safety and their self-determination? If we're willing to say, "Here's a place for you guys that we're going to set up and establish," can we say, "What about the place where you already are?
Is it okay if we give up some of the access to the general public to that space, or the general public's comfort, in order to allow people who have established lives there to continue to remain there as long as they need to do so?" Yeah.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Is there anyone else who'd like to speak? Yes. Hello. My name is Forest. I do not live in the city. I am still in the county, but I work in the city and I've been down to Free Bridge and I've helped the people down there, and worked with the people, and built relationships with people, and built community with people.
And I don't really see that happening with the city itself. There have been promises that have been made, and there are promises that have been broken. You've promised a connection to resources, but you're causing a lot of people who want to get connected to resources to flee the area for fear.
It puts people at harm's way, as many have already stated. But the real question is, okay, what is the plan if the shelter's not ready by September 1st? If you're going to just make people flee the area and not give them anywhere to go, what are you actually expecting to happen there?
You're leaving vulnerable human beings in limbo at the hands of strangers. It's not harm reductive or trauma informed and will further harm and cause distrust. But There's a question here about what is the difference between what you guys are saying, which is what's honesty and what is transparency.
So honesty, we're going to do this, but we're not really seeing from you all what transparency looks like. Where are we going to do with this? And this is the process, and this is who's involved, who will be to accomplish this.
We need transparency. It allows folks to make informed decisions and acknowledges their autonomy and choice. I just think that there is so much more we can be doing by really creating better relationships, not only with the people, our unhoused community, but there needs to be better relationship building.
And it seems to be that there's a lot of just othering and not real care that's informed here. And again, what are you all planning to do after September 1st? What does that plan look like? Are we just going to arrest every single person we see down there that looks potentially unhoused, and they have nowhere to go?
So there's no transparency, and that's, I think, what people are really asking for and want to see, too. So that's all. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, sir. Good evening. My name's Cook Harvey. I'll make it quick.
I think it's pertinent to the city because I am a candidate and potential representative of the city of Charlottesville, so thank you for hearing me. I am running as an independent because I love the people, the idea of self-determined government, and I feel like our two-party system prevents us from moving forward as a united people.
And if you'd like to learn more about me, I've got hundreds of videos online. I started January 1st when I was collecting signatures, and I'm saying thank you because of the many registered voters who signed my petition for candidacy.
So thank you very much for hearing. Thank you. Anyone else? Lizzie, I'm sorry, your first one counted. Can my friend go and cede her time to me? Let me check. I think I might be confused. I don't fully understand the question.
Lizzie was signed up earlier, ceded her time to someone else. Can someone else go and cede their time to Lizzie? No. Yes. Okay. Let her cede it. Would someone like to stand up to cede their time? No. Okay, great.
Hi, I'm Catherine Mueller. I'm ceding my time to Lizzie. Yeah. Can you make it... Yeah, perfect. Okay. Hi, I'm Lizzie. Thanks for letting me talk. I had a speech prepared for earlier, but I will just try to draw out the most salient points.
So I used to be a math teacher, so I did some calculations, and the $3 million for CAST to run the shelter doesn't make sense to me. Basically, okay, I'm going to zoom out a little bit. I think that like Lydia said, you guys are too city-brained, and you're not actually thinking about, what if we just solved the problem?
What if people just had housing? You're like, "How can we make this shelter work?" And then another shelter, and then another shelter that also has rules. But what if people just had places to live? And if you're going to spend $3 million for 120 people to live in one year in this congregate shelter, that same $3 million could actually be, if you found a place that the rent and everything was $1,000 per person, that would be one and a third years for 120 people.
So it's actually cheaper to just put people in housing if you had it, if you had approved building it- Yeah ... than to pay an outside organization that's probably not going to hire local people, because if the local capacity doesn't exist, how could it magically exist after you give $3 million to an out-of-state company?
That doesn't make sense to me. So I think you should just give people housing. It's stupid. Another way that you could consider giving people housing is that in Bellingham, Washington, and other places across the country, they built tiny house villages so that everybody has an 8 by 12 home.
Yeah. Woo. Yeah. And it has a locking door. People can't steal your stuff if you have a locking door. You're probably also not going to get raped. It also has heating, so there probably wouldn't be fires.
It solves almost all of the problems that you guys say you care about. And it also gives people their own privacy and however much storage they want. They can treat it however they want. They can do whatever they want because it's their house.
Homelessness ends when people get houses. I don't know. I feel like it's simple, but you guys don't get it. Anyways, the good news is that it's super affordable in Bellingham. They do it for $1.2 million.
They got 40 units. And like I said, each unit has electricity and heat and insulation, so it's quiet. You wouldn't be bothered the same way you would be sharing a room with 80 other people or whatever.
And then they have communal kitchens, communal laundry and bathrooms. And it's peer and co-led. So that seems like a really great option. I think most recently it took them 18 months to build the 40 units, so you guys could start on that now.
You don't need to find necessarily even a suitable piece of land. You are the city. You own parks. You could take part of the park and make it a tiny house village and give people houses. I do also want to say another option for getting more money is the overtime that you're paying the police to harass these people right now.
Yeah. All the cameras they got. Yeah, all of that. The overtime budget in 2026 is $1.2 million, so you could literally take the police overtime and provide housing for 40 people. But instead of that, you're going to give $3 million to a random Arizona company.
It doesn't make sense. Thank you. All right. Is there anyone else who would like to speak? I think she said it all. All right. You can come on up, Laura. That's true. I apologize. I'm losing my voice a bit.
But I was so confounded by what was said that the conclusion of all of the discussion and- Could you say your name for the record, please? Oh, sorry. My name is Laura Sergani. I live in Johnson Village neighborhood.
I just can't find anywhere where a sane or compassionate person would listen to everything that you all just laid out, and come to the conclusion that September 1st is a great time to evict everyone from where they currently are based on everything you just said about the $30 million with multiple organizations working together and multiple municipalities working together.
Whether you're talking about a temporary shelter, whether you're talking about long-term housing, you've identified that we need an any and all solution, and you're hearing creative any and all solutions.
And I would say, as a person who works in research, the solution and what you should allocate this $4 million to, and what it seems you have the ability to allocate this $4 million to, is to the requests of the people that it's supposed to be serving.
Yeah. Because you've been doing this assessment, and as a person who works in research and does needs assessments, I am absolutely appalled at the way that this has been conducted. No one in research would be able to get this through any sort of board whatsoever.
You've had no plan for what that information is going to be used for. You've not given any transparency to the people that you've been interviewing about how that's going to be used to their benefit. If you have that information now, and I'll tell you that for every one person that was willing to either come and talk to you or do that assessment, there are at least 20 to 30 people who don't have that trust and wouldn't talk to you- Yeah ...
and wouldn't give you those answers. So I want to commend the people who did that, but you have to understand that the complexity of this issue is an individual basis. You need to be doing a needs assessment on an individual basis, and those answers that you were able to get, that's where your $4 million needs to go.
If those people told you what they need, when we have the city manager saying, "We would need to make sure we get what we need," I know the we you're talking about. You're not talking about the people that it's supposed to be serving.
Yeah. You're talking about the PR campaign that this city has been running to check boxes instead of serve needs. Yeah. So every single dollar of that $4 million should be based on what these people have told you that they need, and not any penny should be going to contractors and consultants.
It should be going directly to them. Yeah. Listen to them. Yeah. Woo. We are these people. These people are silent. These people are being silent. Thank you. Is there anyone else? All right. If there's no other questions or comments from the public, or no further business, do we have a motion to adjourn?