ROANOKE COUNTY- BE A PART OF THEIR BIG PLANS

GET INVOLVED WITH ROANOKE COUNTY:

Roanoke County has a few budget-related hearing during their 2 p.m. session Aug. 28, 2007 - two work sessions (Greenways update by Liz Belcher and one on capital funding).

After a couple of closed sessions dealing with the Business Park and Multigenerational Center, they are listed as new items for action in the 7 p.m. session.


Board of Supervisors Meeting

3:00 PM August 28, 2007

Date: August 28, 2007
Location:Roanoke County Administration Center: Board Room
Time: 3:00 PM
Website: www.roanokecountyva.gov/bos
Contact Name:Brenda Holton
Regularly scheduled public meeting of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors.
Agenda for the next scheduled Board meeting can be found at
http://www.roanokecountyva.gov/bosagenda/

SOCIAL SECURITY BUILDING DOWNTOWN? GUESS THAT MEANS NO AMPHITHEATER, EH?

Officials select Jefferson Motor Lodge site for new Social Security building
The General Services Administration says the current site of the dilapidated hotel is its preferred location for the new facility
By Christina Rogers (ROANOKE TIMES - TODAY, AUG 23 , 2007)

"Roanoke City Manager Darlene Burcham has told city council members that the federal General Services Administration has selected the current site of the Jefferson Motor Lodge as the location for a new Social Security Administration Building.
No public announcement has yet been made.
The hotel's site, located on Jefferson Street adjacent to the downtown public library, is owned by RoanokeCollege and is on the market. The assessed value of the property is $1.96 million.
Damon Harwood, a developer in Fairfax, Va., currently has the contract to build the Social Security facility, wherever it goes."

Anyone want to bet - Social security means (1) library doesn't expand and (2) Elmwood is NOT the site of the Amphitheater? I am willing to bet that's what it means. What do you think?

GREAT EVENT

CITY ELIXIR

Tuesday Aug. 28, 2007 - at 7:30 PM - 202 Market, downtown Roanoke - a fundraising event for the Downtown Music Lab. $10 cover which includes some snacks, and live music - and the $$$ goes to support one of the coolest non-profits in town.

Want more info? Go here. Sponsored by Fret Mill / Newvaconnects / City Magazine / 202 Market and RM Johnson & Sons, Jewlery.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Today's letters to the editor in The Roanoke Times, contains the following letter:


Roanoke needs an amphitheater
For the third time in five years, I returned recently from Virginia Beach. I went to see John Mayer, who almost every summer plays there at the amphitheater.
Roanoke, wake up. We need an amphitheater. I have never seen a city so slow to make changes.
I moved here in 1993, and they were talking about tearing down Victory Stadium. That took over a decade before it finally happened.
You wonder why young people don't stay -- please! I read recently where someone suggested a small amphitheater. Don't waste our time and money. If we do it, do it right.
RICKI PAINTER
ROANOKE

RICKI - My only response, is AMEN. Ok, well maybe I have another response - If you feel strongly about this issue like Ricki, and Newvaconnects - then HELP US! Take our survey - sign up on our amphitheater committee, write the paper, write City Council. DO SOMETHING, and if you are not sure what to do - We can help!

ROANOKE COUNTY - BIG PLANS

I will admit, I live in the City, I work in the City, I typically play in the City... but it seems like the County has a great deal going for it too....Did you read this morning's paper
You should (not that I making a statement about the paper, only that being well informed is always good). $70 mill in capital improvement projects are being considered, including new firehouse (always a good idea), library (again a worthy investment) and more. BUT WAIT - the coolest part, the proposed "Rec" center, and I use that term loosely.. I should say, a proposed FUN center - water park, you name it.

Want to be updated on Roanoke County's plans? I will try - but if there is anyone out there involved in County politics and happenings - I would love for someone to keep me posted as well. From what I can tell, these pretty hefty plans look pretty great.

MIXER AT VILLAGE GRILL

If you couldn't make it last night, thats too bad. We had a "hot" time at the Village Grill. The news item being discussed? DOG PARKS. Let me back up and explain. Last Dec/ Jan a great group of folks voted on 4 pressing issues that needed attention from young people in the region. The Advocacy in Action Committee voted to focus on: (1) Dog Park; (2) Ampitheater; (3) Downtown Market Area; and (4) connecting young people with local leaders and government.

There is/was a great group called RDOG that gave a great push for a dog park in Roanoke. They had hundreds of folks sign petitions, meet with Parks and Rec etc.... and they got something accomplished - a temporary dog park at Fishburn Park. The problem? It's not fenced, only 1 dog per person, and only gogs that work on voice-command allowed. This basically means I have not been able to go as my precious Gracie (I will share her photo - she rules) is not so well trained that she will come when called. SO we have about 3 weeks to get some research together to show the city / council / parks and rec / city manager - that a REAL PARK (with actual fences) is the way to go. Want to be involved with this effort? Email me: whitandlauren@gmail.com . We will probably meet next week. Want to voice your opinion? Take our survey here. Have some stats to share about why dog parks are so needed in growing urban areas? Please share.

Afterall, dog or not, a designated place for people to meet has got to be a great idea... and I know my Gracie and Atticus love to socialize!

GREAT LOCAL NEWS SOURCE

Don't know why, who or any of the details... But this is a great local resource - http://www.thisisroanoke.com/.

I would recommend you check it out!

ROANOKE, CULTURAL LOCATION FOR THE ARTS?

Again - I give kudos to creativity. Read this morning's Roanoke Times article (here)

"Two Roanoke city councilmen want state lawmakers to hand out tax money for financially strapped cultural organizations in Roanoke's downtown, though it's too soon to tell whether their plan will be approved.
During a news conference Wednesday at Center in the Square in downtown Roanoke, Brian Wishneff and Sherman Lea said they plan to ask legislators for a larger chunk of Virginia's sales tax to help fund a new cultural district in downtown Roanoke. This area would encompass cultural organizations within the boundaries of Fifth Street, Wells Avenue, Williamson Road and Elm Avenue.
The councilmen's plan has two parts. One would ask the state to give Roanoke an additional one-third of the sales tax revenue it generates. Roanoke currently receives 1 percent of Virginia's 5 percent tax.
That addition, they estimated, would generate about $7 million. Roanoke could invest this money directly into the city's cultural organizations located in this district, including Center in the Square.
The second part of the plan would benefit local artists. It would require that sales of artists' work within the cultural district be exempt from Virginia's sales tax. Likewise, those artists who live in the cultural district would receive a tax break on sales of their merchandise. Localities also would use this tax funding to market the district to artists.
The councilmen are proposing this same tax funding program for Norfolk.
Providing opportunities for artists and cultural groups could revitalize Roanoke, a city that already lacks financial sources because annexation is prohibited in the state, the councilmen said. Annexation allows cities to include adjacent counties in the population base, creating larger sources of funding for projects."

Read the article and decide for yourself ---- At least it recognizes we need $$, and we don't have it here in the City!

SICK OF HEARING "THERE IS NOTHING TO DO IN ROANOKE"

Ok - I hear it all the time. "There is nothing to do in Roanoke."

Well, here is my brief list of upcoming fun in 2007, that proves the above statement, incorrect.

Sept. 8, Blues Festival by EventZone
Sept 19, 202 Market, Darrell Scott
Sept 22, W&M v. Va. Tech Game (go TRIBE!)
Thu. Sep. 27 Jeff. Center, Bela Fleck & Flecktones
Thu. Oct. 11, Jeff Center - Keb Mo
Nov. 2, 2007 NewVaConnects NOVEMBEER
Sun. Nov. 11, Jeff Center - Madeleine Peyroux
Wed. Dec. 5, Jeff Center - Blind Boys of Alabama

Not all there is I know - but its a start. Comment if you know of more events!

LEAD FOOT ANYONE?

I was a traffic lawyer for a few years - so I now drive very slowly... but for my neighbors and friends that sometimes speed, there has been a recent Virginia development that may cause alarm. I am sure you have heard of the "bad driver" transportion fees. The General Assembly needed to raise $ for roads, and decided to have a non-tax, penalty put in place. They couldn't make it a normal speeding fine, because then the money would could not be used for transportation - and you know how they hate to call things a tax... so a penalty was created, only for Virginians..

In the last few weeks, attorneys in Richmond, the beach area and northern Virginia have challenged the new penalties as unconstitutional - it seems some of our local attorneys, have caught on. Read Roanoke.com article here . Good luck guys! Its certainly will be an interesting argument!

FUTURE OF THE DOWNTOWN MARKET

Do you care about the market? Shop there? Eat there? Hang out there?
Well, you probably answered yes to at least one of those (some what rhetorical) questions. SO - what are you doing to participate in the future of the market?

August 14, 6-9pm will be the next Roanoke Market Meeting / Discussion at the HigherEd Center downtown. If you care about the market - you should be there. I attended the first one - and it was pretty tame. Rumor is the last two were maybe more heated, but also, more productive.

OK guys - no excuses. If you have an opinion on this issue. BE THERE to express it. Want the vendors to have parking? More vendors? Less Vendors? Paid parking?

The City is asking for public participation and support. Sure hope we don't disappoint.

PARTNERS ON ROANOKE CITY COUNCIL

Anyone who pays attention to the Roanoke City Council, should have noticed that Councilman Lea and Councilman Wishneff often vote together. They also seem to be of like mind on various projects, for example, this week I received a newsletter style email from them discussing a proposed development of the former Grand Building on Campbell Avenue.

They wrote: "As you know by now, City Council voted 5-2 yesterday to give an $880,000 grant to the developer of the former Grand Building on Campbell Avenue. We were the two no votes and we wanted to give you our reasons for voting no."

The letter goes on state "City Council was not handed one piece of paper documenting the need. We saw no analysis (slight or vigorous) by staff verifying anything to do with the request. Nor did anyone on Council, except us, even ask to see the Developer’s numbers.

We were asked to simply trust the staff. As stewards of the public's money is that what we are supposed to do? Of course not."

The letter ends, "Sadly, we never got to discuss whether $880,000 on an apartment project was the best use of our limited dollars. With no information available to anyone on Council we just voted to give the money away yesterday. No real verification of need. In other “normal urban cities” there would have been months of scrutiny, analysis and discussion. Please send this email on to the folks around downtown. "

Brian and Sherman

Well guys - thats what I am doing. Sharing your email. Whether we agree or not, I appreciate your effort to communicate with your voters, and explain your decisions.

FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN ROANOKE

Every day we read about the future of downtown Roanoke. Where will a new music venue go? What about apartments? Lofts? Office space? The latest debate, is the future of the Jefferson Motor Lodge - you know, that great looking motel next to Elmwood Park and the library on the corner of Elm and Jefferson. How about demolishing the motel for new government offices? Does that seem wasteful or brilliant? Read more about it in the Roanoke Times article here.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW BLOG

We have heard time and time again "if I had known about that event, I would have gone" or better yet "I didn't know City Council was going to vote on that issue, wish I could have been there." So NewVaConnects, a group for young professionals in the NewVa Region (New River Valley to Roanoke) has started this blog to make sure there is no longer an information gap in Roanoke.

What will we blog about?

• Local Issues of Importance (from parking fees downtown, to school board and dog parks)
• EVENTS
• Professional development opportunities (seminars, meetings etc)
• How to get involved in your community

Please stay tuned - I think you will find this blog to be very informative, and after all, that is what we are here for - CONNECTING young people in the region to the greater community!