Category Archives: News

2023 Virginia Farm to Table Conference Set for Dec. 12 & 13

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The 2023 Virigina Farm to Table Conference is set for December 12 and 13 at Blue Ridge Community College’s Plecker Workforce Center. This year’s theme is “Nourishing and (Re)Imagining Collaboration, Conservation, and Community.”

Speakers and panelists will address and discuss regenerative agriculture, safety trauma, emotional ecology, drought resilience, managing pasture, the power of land and agency, community food webs and clusters, connections between soil health and human health, diversifying and stacking complementary enterprises, value chain connections, market development, local and regional food system development.

Learn more and register at https://tinyurl.com/2023VAF2TConfReg

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DHCD Releases 2024 VATI Program Guidelines and Criteria

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The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) recently issued the 2024 Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) program guidelines and criteria. The primary objective of the VATI grant is to provide financial assistance to supplement construction costs by private sector broadband service providers, in partnership with local units of government, to extend service to areas that presently are unserved by any broadband provider. All parties interested in applying for the 2024 VATI program were required to submit a non-binding VATI Notice of Application by October 19 to communicate their intent to apply. Within the CSPDC footprint, the following localities met this VATI requirement: Augusta and Rockbridge counties. Applications for the 2024 VATI program are due December 19. Proposals received under this program (sourced from the state general funding) will be scored, governed, and administered under the 2024 VATI guidelines and criteria.

A separate, but related program to bring universal broadband access across Virginia continues to progress forward. The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program provides grant funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Commonwealth of Virginia is among the top 10 states to receive a BEAD allocation: nearly $1.5B. The BEAD program aims to expand high-speed internet access to unserved or underserved areas, businesses, and community anchor institutions. Access to DHCD’s Commonwealth Connect: BEAD Program Five-Year Plan, a strategy to bridge the digital divide, is available at the link below:

https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/Docx/vati/virginia-bead-5-year-plan.pdf

Application dates and deadlines for the BEAD program will be posted separately on the VATI website: https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/vati.

Lexington Approved for CDBG Planning Grant to Study Housing Conditions

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In October, the City of Lexington and the CSPDC received an award notice for a $50,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The awarded planning grant will allow the City to complete a city-wide housing conditions and infrastructure windshield survey and needs assessment. The awarded grant will build off the momentum gained in the past two years through the CSDPC’s regional housing study and the City’s local efforts to address housing. Additionally, the assessment will help to guide the future direction of grants and programs.

In August, CSPDC staff met with Lexington’s Threshold Housing Commission to discuss the proposed CDBG Planning Grant and potential future activities related to housing conditions in the City. Threshold has a long history of identifying housing rehabilitation needs in Lexington, and plans to use the proposed CDBG Planning Grant as an updated assessment of the City’s current needs. The proposed grant will provide both the City of Lexington and Threshold with recommended priority neighborhoods for future investment.

The City will need to complete a Facilitated Planning Session with DCHD before moving forward with the project. Once complete, the City will work with the CSPDC to release an RFP and identify a consultant to conduct the windshield survey and needs assessment.

SHD Aviation Tech Park Holds Ribbon Cutting

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The Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport cut the grand opening ribbon for a long-envisioned hangar project in its Aviation Technology Park. Two 14,000 square foot corporate aircraft hangars will support aviation-related business growth in the region. The ribbon cutting event on November 6 celebrated the completion of the project and recognized the project’s partners including two federal agencies involved in its funding, USDA Rural Development and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA). The Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport Commission was awarded a $2 million grant from EDA for the project. The project is expected to create up to 75 high-paying jobs in the aviation technology and aviation maintenance sectors. The CSPDC was instrumental in helping the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport apply for EDA funding and is providing grant administration services for the hangar project.

This achievement is the first step in a multi-phase master plan to build out the Aviation Technology Park and meet the demands of aviation related businesses and technologies in the area.  The Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport currently has a $993,300 GO Virginia Per Capita Allocation Grant to install water and sewer lines that will prepare the remainder of the site for future expansion. The Technology Park master plan supports the development of up to five additional hangers that would continue to expand the aviation industry in the region.

Mount Crawford Awarded Funding for Public Park

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The Town of Mount Crawford was awarded over $300,000 to create the town’s first public park and space behind Town Hall and along the North River. The park will include a sensory trail, sensory playground, picnic shelter, bathroom, parking, native tree walk, and direct access to the North River for fishing and kayaking. The project also ties in to a recently completed boat launch.

The CSPDC assisted the Town with the grant application. The project is being funded through a Virginia Outdoors Foundation grant, which provides funding for projects that provide public access to outdoor spaces.

Bath County Earns $2M DHS REMCDP Grant

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a notice of award on September 28 to Bath County for $2,000,000 in funding under the Rural Emergency Medical Communications Demonstration Project (REMCDP) grant. The REMCDP seeks to leverage existing technologies and engage non-medical professionals to help establish or sustain statewide medical communications systems and use existing infrastructure to improve the delivery of rural medical care.

This funding stream will assist the Bath and Highland region with their efforts to modernize operability and interoperability systems within a unique geographical and federally restrictive communication setting. Both counties lie within the National Radio Quiet Zone which makes for a challenging environment to garner licensing for public safety and private radio systems. Each jurisdiction is also near the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the National Security Agency Sugar Grove Listening Station. This proximity creates additional hurdles for the area’s communication strategy. The region’s population of approximately 6,350 is served by the Bath Community Hospital (a Critical Access Hospital) and the Highland Medical Center (a Federally Qualified Health Center).

The project period runs through September 2025. For more information on the DHS REMCDP program visit: https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/services/rural-emergency-medical-communications-demonstration-project-remcdp, or contact the CSPDC at (540) 885-5174.

SAW Housing Summit Partners Launch Community Conversation Series

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In partnership with the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge, Augusta Health, Valley Community Services Board, and Valley Homeless Connection, the CSPDC is coordinating community conversations focused on pressing housing issues in our region.

These community conversations are intended as a follow-up to the SAW Housing Summit, held on October 11 and 12. The conversations will focus on topics that were not able to be included in the Summit agenda, but that have emerged as important housing topics to stakeholders in the region.

The first community conversation will be a ‘Sip & Speak’ session at the Embrace Waynesboro Community Center (932 Fir Street) on October 26th at 9am. Participants will be joined by Elizabeth Coltrane with Blue Ridge Legal Services to discuss challenges that renters in the Valley face and landlord-tenant concerns. Coffee will be provided. The second session will be a brown bag ‘Lunch & Learn’ at the Staunton Innovation Hub on November 9th at 12pm. At this session, Lydia Campbell with Valley Community Services Board will share her expertise on the Housing First model, and discuss innovative approaches to addressing homelessness in our community.

The SAW Housing Summit partners plan to hold additional future community conversations based on participant interest. We hope you are able to join us!

CSPDC Adopts Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy

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On October 16, the CSPDC adopted the 2023 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). As the region’s 5-year plan for economic development, the CEDS provides a vision and a blueprint for greater economic prosperity and growth. Through extensive research and data analysis, an evaluation of regional trends, and a thorough community engagement process, the CEDS leverages and capitalizes on the region’s assets to create an action-oriented plan that promotes quality, sustained economic growth. The updated CEDS defines a renewed Vision for the region, along with revised goals, objectives, and strategies that were determined through the stakeholder engagement process. The primary areas of focus over the next five years include: 1) Workforce Development; 2) Business Attraction and Retention; 3) Housing; 4) Placemaking and Community Building; and 5) Resilience. The plan can be found HERE.

CSPDC Begins LDD Outreach Meetings

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CSPDC staff kicked off the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) READY Local Development District (LDD) program with stakeholder outreach meetings involving local government and community leaders. Meetings occurred with local government representatives from the counties of Bath, Highland, and Rockbridge, the cities of Buena Vista and Lexington, and the towns of Glasgow, Goshen, and Monterey in August and September. CSPDC followed up with an ARC READY LDD presentation to community leaders in September and October.

Currently, the remaining stakeholder outreach meetings are scheduled in the Rockbridge Area on October 12 at 11 AM (Virginia Innovation Accelerator in Buena Vista) and on October 26 at 11 AM (Virginia Horse Center in Rockbridge County/Lexington). Over the course of the next several months, CSPDC staff will facilitate stakeholder engagement meetings to develop, prioritize, and compete for federal funding to source locally developed projects.

Initial regional feedback on areas for community improvement generally involve housing (inventory, affordability, quality), infrastructure (poor condition, aging, non-existent, needs expanding), workforce development (economic growth, jobs, livable wages), and wraparound services (daycare/childcare). Targeted funding includes, but is not limited to,  the American Rescue Plan Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. For more information on the ARC and their READY Appalachian programs visit: https://www.arc.gov/, or contact the CSPDC at (540) 885-5174.

MPOs Launch New Websites

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Both the Staunton Augusta Waynesboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (SAWMPO) and the Harrisonburg Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization (HRMPO) have new websites. PDC staff worked with the communications consultant company Avid Core to facilitate the transition of both websites to the WordPress platform.

Each of the websites have been refreshed and reorganized to be more visually appealing and easier to navigate. In addition to improved navigability, the HRMPO and SAWMPO websites include Google Translate to provide translation options for visitors who would prefer to access the websites in a language other than English.

The new websites will keep the MPOs’ work, past and current, accessible to the public as we engage with them on planning matters inside the MPOs.

Visit the new MPO website at www.hrvampo.org for the Harrisonburg-Rockingham MPO and www.sawmpo.org for the Staunton Augusta Waynesboro MPO.