News
Bath County Child Care Facility Opens
On May 31, Bath County cut the ribbon for a new licensed childcare facility. The ribbon cutting ceremony marks the culmination of a multi-year effort to establish a licensed childcare facility. Before using ARPA funds to construct the facility, Bath County was the only county in Virginia without a licensed childcare operator. The Highland Children’s House will operate the newly constructed facility. Highland Children’s House also provides childcare at the Highland Center in Monterey. The new building is located in Warm Springs, in front of Valley Elementary School.
CSPDC Assists Localities with Applications for $6.4 Million in Funding
The CSPDC assisted our localities to submit over $6.4 million of funding applications in the last month.
Sponsoring Partnerships & Revitalizing Communities (SPARC)
Total: $3,000,000
The CSPDC applied for a new allocation of funds through Virginia Housing’s SPARC Program, which offers reduced-rate funding with a 1% adjustment to interest rates below Virginia Housing’s prevailing home loan rates. Last year, CSPDC secured $1.7 million through SPARC and supported eight clients in the Shenandoah Valley purchase homes. This year, the CSPDC aims to nearly double the number of future first-time homeowners it can support.
Goshen Community Service Facility – Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
Total: $1,250,000
The Town of Goshen applied for $1.25 million CDBG Community Improvement Grant to build a multi-purpose community service facility in Goshen. The proposed facility would provide health care, a food pantry, senior services, and many needed community services under one roof.
Stillwater Revitalization Project – Industrial Revitalization Fund (IRF)
Total: $1,000,000
In June, the CSPDC helped prepare an IRF application to transform the former Stillwater Worsted Mills textile plant building in Goshen, Rockbridge County. The project aims to secure $1 million in IRF funds to rejuvenate the structure, converting it into a multi-use facility shared between the Virginia Mechanical Preservation Society and North Fork, a manufacturer of wood-based products. If the application is successful, the revitalized building will house a museum, a preservation workshop, and a forest-to-finish wood manufacturing factory, focusing on the construction of log cabin tiny homes.
Afton Mountain Revitalization – CDBG Planning Grant
Total: $100,000
The CSPDC assisted Augusta County in applying for a $100,000 CDBG Planning Grant to develop a master plan for the Afton Mountain-Rockfish Gap site. If successful, the grant will enable the identification of the optimal mix of amenities and business opportunities for this unique site and would be a key step towards the site’s redevelopment.
Northern Highlands 4-County Communications Network Project – ARC ARISE Planning Grant
Total: $144,600
CSPDC staff supported a two-state, four-county effort, involving Bath (VA), Highland (VA), Pocahontas (WV), and Pendleton (WV) counties, to pursue an ARC ARISE (Appalachian Regional Commission Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies) planning grant. Together the partners crafted a Concept Paper to construct a multi-phase, 21st Century communication infrastructure network which is expected to drive regional economic development and support public safety operations along the VA/WV border. If ARC approves the Concept Paper, the working group will be invited to complete the full ARC ARISE application later this year.
Wilson Workforce Development Center – Community Development Block Grant
Total: $950,000
The CSPDC continues to support the City of Buena Vista’s efforts to apply for grant funding to source the Mountain Gateway Community College’s (MGCC) Wilson Workforce Development Center completion. In June 2024, Buena Vista applied for a $950,000 Community Development Block Grant to source the purchase of equipment needed by MGCC faculty to instruct students on courses for in-demand jobs such as HVAC, building trades, electrical, plumbing, industrial technology, precision machining, welding, diesel mechanics, and CDLs. Buena Vista staff wrote the application on behalf of MGCC, with technical assistance from the CSPDC.
CSPDC Recognizes Commissioner Rhonda Cooper
In 2018, the CSPDC welcomed Ms. Rhonda Cooper as a non-elected Rockingham County representative to the Board of Commissioners. She has been a valued member of the Board and its Executive Committee, contributing significantly to the CSPDC’s ability to serve the region. At the end of July, Ms. Cooper plans to retire. We wish her well in retirement; she will be greatly missed!
Ms. Cooper has been an integral planning partner of the CSPDC for more than three decades. Since joining Rockingham County in 1993, Ms. Cooper has been deeply involved in county and regional collaboration, her most recent role being Director of Community Development. Ms. Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree in planning and a master’s in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia. She even worked for a summer at the CSPDC!
In 1997, Ms. Cooper joined the Executive Committee of the Rural Planning Caucus of Virginia (RPCVA), an organization dedicated to identifying, publicizing, and addressing the unique planning needs of small towns and rural areas. She served three terms as Chairperson of RPCVA from 2006 to 2008.
Following the 2000 Census, the population density of the area led to Harrisonburg and parts of Rockingham County being classified as “metropolitan.” This necessitated the formation of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization (HRMPO) for transportation projects and regional collaboration, organized by the CSPDC. Ms. Cooper became a member in 2003, representing Rockingham County, and has served ever since, providing technical and planning expertise to the organization.
Please join us in thanking Ms. Cooper for her service to the Commission, and wish her a wonderful and much-deserved retirement!
Bath-Highland Network Authority Public Notice of a Meeting
On July 8th, 2024, at 1:00 PM, the Bath-Highland Network Authority will hold a meeting at the Bolar Ruritan Club, 38 Bolar Lane, Monterey, VA 24465. For more information about the meeting, please contact Steve Bolster at 540-885-5174 or steve@cspdc.org.
Devon Thompson Graduates from VTLI
Jen Debruhl, DRPT Director, Devon Thompson, CSPDC Transit Program Manager, Deanna Reed, Harrisonburg City Mayor
In September 2023, Devon Thompson, Transit Program Manager, was selected to participate in the inaugural class of the Virginia Transit Leadership Institute (VTLI). VTLI is a program of Virginia Transit Association (VTA), the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), and state transit agencies, and is the Commonwealth’s first public transportation focused leadership program focused on cultivating and elevating future leaders within the transit industry.
The inaugural class of fellows, comprised of 15 transit professionals across the Commonwealth, met over the course of nine months. Fellows gained an extensive and comprehensive perspective into Virginia’s public transportation network by participating in six full-day sessions hosted around the state covering 32 transit-related topics ranging from legislation, funding, communications/community outreach, transit network and service planning, and leadership and operations.
The cohort graduated from the program at VTA’s 47th Annual Conference and Expo hosted in Harrisonburg, VA on May 22-23, 2024.