In October, CSPDC and Shenandoah Valley Partnership (SVP) staff toured and received an update on construction of the renovation project at the historic Highland Inn in Highland County. In June, the CSPDC assisted the Blue Grass Resource Center in applying for a $50,000 DEQ Brownfields Grant for the Highland Inn’s restoration project. The Brownfields grant is funding the removal of lead paint during this initial renovation phase. Other projects underway include reconstructing the Inn’s iconic front porches, replacing exterior fire escapes and stabilizing the foundation. Located on Main Street in Monterey, the Highland Inn is a part of Highland County’s economic development strategy to increase tourism through retreat conferences and cultural events.

CSPDC staff are members of the Shenandoah Rail Trail Partnership. The Partnership is a coalition of volunteers, local and PDC staff, advocacy groups, local and state elected officials who are working to build support for the project. CSPDC Executive Director Bonnie Riedesel serves as the Vice-Chair of the Rail Trail Partnership, and her counterpart at Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission, Brandon Davis, is the Chair. The Partnership hopes to convert a disused Norfolk Southern rail line running from Broadway and Timberville in Rockingham County 38 miles north to Strasburg, VA into a rail trail facility. The Rail Trail would connect 8 towns, 6 Civil War Battlefields, and Seven Bends State Park as it travels through Shenandoah and Rockingham Counties, and crosses two PDCs. Delegate Tony Wilt, and Senators Mark Obenshain and Emmett Hanger shepherded a FY21 budget amendment through the 2020 special legislative session to dedicate Department of Conservation and Recreation resources to evaluate the feasibility of turning the disused rail line into a rails-to-trails facility. The Partnership will play an integral role in the feasibility study in the coming year.

Follow regional impacts of COVID-19 using the CSPDC Recovery Dashboard, scheduled to launch this November on the CSPDC website. The Recovery Dashboard will feature interactive graphs that display data on localities’ unemployment rates, unemployment benefits claims, COVID-19 cases and tax revenues. The purpose of the dashboard is to illustrate the Region’s recovery process from the COVID-19 Pandemic and Virginia’s Stay at Home order. Data tracking began in March 2020 and will follow economic, health and community statistics for each locality over the next two years. This project is administered by the CSPDC and is funded through EDA’s CARES Act.

On October 8, Governor Northam announced a new, fast-track program to distribute $30M in CARES Act funds, targeting rural broadband access across the Commonwealth. With a requirement that the funds be expended and service in place by December 25, 2020, Rockbridge County, the Rockbridge Area Network Authority (RANA) and BARC Connects moved quickly to identify projects that could be built within the scheduled requirement, applying for a total of $1,140,649 in funding. The application included $770,000 for BARC Connects projects and $178,139 for RANA projects. Rockbridge County has been notified that $770,000 has been awarded for the BARC Connects portion of the project. The RANA portion is still under review by the Governor’s Office.  In addition, Augusta County has been awarded $567,063 in broadband CARES funding that will be used for the Swoope Tower Fixed Wireless and New Hope Telephone Cooperative Fiber projects. Both projects will increase broadband connectivity to improve distance learning, telework, and telehealth capabilities in response to COVID-19 for underserved areas identified in Augusta County’s 2016 Broadband Telecommunications Strategic Plan.

Localities must apply for the funding and are encouraged to partner with broadband providers to complete the projects.

On October 21, 2020, the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) amended the FY 2020-2025 Six Year Improvement Program to include new projects in the CSPDC region. Eight localities applied for funding through the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) in 2019 for sidewalks, bike/buggy lanes, greenways, and urban bike boulevards, or for funding to repave local streets and roads through the State of Good Repair program. Funding to begin these projects will be available in the next two years, and the TAP program requires a 20% local match. Three towns in Rockingham County — Bridgewater, Elkton, and Timberville — are expanding their sidewalk and trail networks, while Rockingham County with consideration to its Old Order Mennonite Community will begin design on a bike/buggy lane on Garbers Church Road. The cities of Harrisonburg and Waynesboro will expand their greenway trail networks with TAP grants. The CSPDC offers administrative support for these programs.

Exceeding their 2010 Census response rate, the CSPDC localities of Augusta, Buena Vista, Rockingham, Staunton and Waynesboro recorded response rates of 70% or higher. However, Bath and Highland rank among the 10 lowest response rates in Virginia. Out of all responses collected in the CSPDC region, 50% of residents filled out the 2020 Census online.

The Census Bureau concluded data collection on October 15 and will report population counts to the President by December 31, 2020. This data helps determine the number of seats each state holds in the U.S. House of Representatives and the amount of funds allocated by state, local and federal lawmakers each year.

The Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel will soon be open to the public for walking and biking. Project partners from the past 20 years joined Governor Northam and Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Bettina Ring and Virginia Tourism Corporation President and CEO Rita McClenny to formally dedicate the Tunnel on September 23, 2020. VDOT, Nelson County, and Waynesboro contributed just over $5 million over the life of the project to restore the Tunnel, and construct trails, parking lots, and interpretive signs along the trail. Congratulations to Nelson County on the completion of this landmark project! Stay tuned for details on the Tunnel’s official open date for the general public.

In January, Virginia Governor Northam announced more than $18.3 million in grants through the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) to support broadband expansion to underserved regions across Virginia. The CSPDC submitted an application with co-applicant BARC Electric Cooperative and was awarded a $2.2 million grant. After working through incumbent carrier challenges to the original project submission, the project areas were revised in order that the project could move ahead to broadband construction and deployment. The revised project will bring broadband access to 492 unserved homes and businesses in Rockbridge County resulting in approximately 111 miles of gigabit last mile fiber infrastructure and a total cost of $4.4 million dollars. The CSPDC will serve as the grant administrator and will work with Rockbridge County and BARC through the completion of the project.

On August 8, a stalled rainstorm caused up to several feet of flood water to invade many downtown Staunton businesses and homes. Two weeks later a second devastating storm caused additional damage throughout the City. To assist Staunton residents during this challenging time, the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge accepted donations for a Flood Relief Fund. The CSPDC partnered with the Community Foundation to contact residents and record their damages and assess what resources, including the Flood Relief Fund were available. The CSPDC is proud to provide disaster relief assistance such as this to the region’s residents and communities.

The Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (SAWMPO) is in the final stages of the 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan Update. The CSPDC is seeking input from the public on the proposed list of projects in the document. Instead of an in-person meeting, the Plan Update steps and the project list is being presented via an online StoryMap and questionnaire. The StoryMap provides detailed maps and infographics detailing the process and data used to identify and evaluate projects. The StoryMap and questionnaire will be open for the month of October.