Category Archives: News

Rockbridge County High School Students Win Award

Posted on by
The Rockbridge County High School (RCHS) Building Trades students and their instructor took top honors for the Youth Group Effort of the Year at the 20th Annual Virginia Statewide Neighborhood Conference  in September. The award recognizes a youth group that has made a significant impact or contribution in their community. The Building Trades curriculum at RCHS provides students with methods and techniques in building construction, preparing them to enter the trade upon graduation.  RCHS was recognized for its work with Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity in which the students have helped to build 18 homes for area families since 2001.
Since 2014, the RCHS students have helped to build five modular homes for the Greenhouse Village affordable housing project. One home is built each year, and then transported less than a mile to the site. Now in Phase II, Greenhouse Village is a multi-phase partnership between Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity and Rockbridge County to construct homes and build infrastructure for roads, water and sewer. The project is funded through the Community Development Block Grant Program administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The CSPDC provides grant administration services to the County for this project.

CSPDC Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Posted on by
Over 75 people gathered to celebrate the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission’s 50th anniversary on September 17, 2019 at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton. In attendance were local government representatives, CSPDC Commissioners and staff, and stakeholders. The program featured four of the CSPDC’s signature programs including BRITE Transit, Fields of Gold Farm Trail, Transportation Planning, and Shenandoah Valley Project Impact.
The CSPDC was chartered by the Virginia General Assembly in September, 1969 to provide planning, technical assistance and facilitation services to its five counties, five cities and 11 towns. For the past 50 years, the CSPDC has assisted its localities with a variety of economic and community development programs that improve the economic vitality of the region and the quality of life of its citizens.
A warm thank you is extended to the sponsors of the event which include: Litten & Sipe, AMT & Associates, VML/VACO, Kimley-Horn, Virginia Regional Transit (VRT), Draper Aden Associates, The Berkley Group, and Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA).

New BRITE Bus Transit Manager

Posted on by

Aidan Quirke has been hired as CSPDC’s Transit Program Manager to replace Nancy Gourley, who will retire at the end of the year. A native of Virginia, Aidan holds a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University and has worked for public transit agencies in Richmond, Virginia and Savannah, Georgia

Inter-Regional Transit Study Kicks Off

Posted on by

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) has contracted with Kimley-Horn to complete additional research and analysis on the feasibility of Afton Express, a proposed public transit service connecting the Staunton, Augusta County, Waynesboro (SAW) region to the City of Charlottesville. This approximately six-month study will build on previously completed efforts to evaluate the feasibility of this service, while examining specific elements of those studies in greater detail.

Buena Vista Receives CDBG Planning Grants

Posted on by
In June, the City of Buena Vista was awarded a Business District Revitalization Planning Grant and an Opportunity Zone Planning Grant through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). Together the two grants, totaling $40,000, will create an inventory of properties,  address specific revitalization needs to the downtown area, identify gaps in opportunities, and develop an economic development marketing plan for the city.
Currently, a Project Management Team is being established along with a Physical Inventory Survey of open spaces and buildings in downtown.  A public meeting to discuss initial grant activities and obtain community input for further use of funding will be held in early September.

Delegate Landes Presents 50th Anniversary Resolution

Posted on by
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission. In 1968, the Virginia State Legislature passed the Virginia Area Development Act which set forth the framework for the establishment of regional planning district commissions throughout the state, and on October 1, 1969, the CSPDC was organized.

This year, the General Assembly passed a resolution in honor of the Commonwealth’s 21 PDCs. During the CSPDC’s annual meeting on August 19, Delegate Steve Landes presented the resolution to the Commission.

BRITE Bus to Give Free Rides During Try Transit Week

Posted on by
Try Transit Week, September 16-20, 2019, is an educational event designed to encourage Virginians to reduce their use of single-occupancy vehicles and try a form of public transportation. Try Transit will be celebrated in Staunton, Augusta County, and Waynesboro with a Free Ride Day on all BRITE Bus transit routes on Wednesday, September 18. Riders can ride any of the BRITE Bus routes, paratransit, or deviated fixed routes free of charge that day.
Try Transit Week was created by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) and transit operators across the Commonwealth to spread the word about public transportation accessibility and its numerous benefits. As part of Try Transit Week, DRPT sponsors a Try Transit Week pledge giveaway. Participants who pledge to “try transit” are automatically entered for a chance to win a year of free transit service from a participating Virginia transit operator, as well as a pair of round-trip tickets aboard Amtrak’s Northeast Regional transit.

Community Emergency Response Training Begins

Posted on by
Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County, in partnership with the CSPDC, will be offering Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) on Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm from September 26-November 14, 2019.  The course  is free and open to anyone who lives or works in Staunton, Waynesboro, or Augusta County.
This seven-week course uses a standard curriculum designed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and teaches basic skills in disaster preparedness, fire safety, first aid, terrorism awareness, disaster psychology, and search and rescue procedures. The CERT course is designed to give the average person tools to not only prepare themselves and their family during severe weather or other emergencies, but to assist community members and emergency personnel when needed. Contact the CSPDC to register.

BRITE Bus Receives Best Practices Award

Posted on by
The Robert M. deVoursney Best Practices Award was presented to BRITE Bus and CSPDC Transit Manager, Nancy Gourley, during the Virginia Association of Planning District Commission’s (VAPDC) Annual Conference in Williamsburg. The award recognizes an organization that has initiated innovative and regional activities which have contributed significantly to the effectiveness of a region.
BRITE Bus is a small urban transit system that operates in the Staunton, Augusta, Waynesboro area and provides public transportation to the citizens of the area. The BRITE Bus program is administered and managed by the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission and is going into its sixth year of operation. For more information on BRITE Bus, go to www.britebus.org.

50 Years of Emergency Management

Posted on by
Over the past 50 years, the Central Shenandoah Region has experienced natural disasters ranging from tropical systems, winter storms, tornadoes, and derechoes but instead of succumbing to its vulnerabilities, has decided with the assistance of the CSPDC to forge a path of resilience.
The year 1969 was a year of historical events; a man walked on the moon, the Woodstock music festival occurred, the CSPDC was established, and Hurricane Camille made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane. By the time Camille reached Virginia, it combined with other weather factors to cause cataclysmic rainfall; 31 inches in Nelson County and 8 inches in Rockbridge County. I n Virginia 153 people died, including 23 people in Rockbridge County. Hurricane Camille was the start of flooding that, over the next 30 years, would devastate communities in the Central Shenandoah Region, including Agnes in 1972, the Election Day Flood in 1985, June Floods in 1995, Hurricane Fran in 1996, and Hurricane Isabel in 2003.
To end the cycle of damage and repair, the CSPDC stepped in after the 1995 floods to help localities with numerous flood mitigation projects designed to protect people and property through elevation, relocation, and acquisition of homes, and floodproofing of businesses. In 2000, the Shenandoah Valley Project Impact was formed to educate people on how to prepare for severe weather, emergencies, and disasters and to put in place mitigation measures that reduce damages. This was followed by starting the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program in 2003.  For over 15 years, the CSPDC has been assisting the communities in our region with Emergency Operations Plans, Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Plans, and Community Wildfire Protection Plans. The CSPDC also maintains the Central Shenandoah Hazard Mitigation Plan.