News

Infrastructure Completed for Phase II of Greenhouse Village

Posted on by

Since 2012, Rockbridge County has partnered with Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity in the development of affordable housing in the Greenhouse Village neighborhood, a mixed-income community of single-family homes located near Lexington. The project has been completed in multiple phases, and in September 2017 Rockbridge County was awarded a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for $476,693 in funds for Phase II. The CDBG grant was matched with $1,978,100 in additional funds from other sources. The CDBG funding was used for the development of water, sewer, and street infrastructure which will allow for the construction of 12 new single-family homes bringing the total to 20 new homes built by Habitat in Greenhouse Village. The construction of the infrastructure was completed in fall 2019. Construction on the homes will be completed by Habitat in January 2022.

CSPDC provided grant administration services, and the CDBG program is administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.

USDA Funds Agricultural Enterprise Center Feasibility Study

Posted on by
The CSPDC has been selected to receive an $85,000 grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through their Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP).  This grant was one of 42 out of 215 LFPP grants awarded and the only one funded in Virginia. Grant funds will be used to fund a feasibility study to determine the viability of a certified, commercial, shared-use Agricultural Enterprise Center located in the central Shenandoah Valley. The study also will identify what components will be the most successful and beneficial to local farmers such as a commercial kitchen, food lab/testing kitchen, flash freeze facility, training space for smart-ag classes and seminars, packaging and distribution operations, and business planning resources. The study will explore physical locations for a facility and structure a comprehensive business plan.
A study team composed of potential users and representatives from businesses and organizations who support local food production will convene in February to begin the study process that is anticipated to last approximately 18 months.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Planning Continues in 2020

Posted on by
Additional funding has been granted by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to the CSPDC and 14 other Bay PDCs to continue the Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan efforts in 2020. The CSPDC will continue to provide technical and administrative assistance to local governments and stakeholders as they discuss and determine how to implement watershed best management practices to help ensure pollution control measures needed to fully restore the Bay are in place no later than 2025. The DEQ and CSPDC have worked together to develop a scope of work to guide the initiative’s efforts through 2020.

All Hazard Mitigation Plan Completed

Posted on by
CSPDC staff recently completed the 2020 update of the Central Shenandoah Hazard Mitigation Plan. This is the second update of the original 2005 Plan. Local jurisdictions are legally required to have a current Hazard Mitigation Plan in place in order to be eligible to receive certain federal mitigation funds. The purpose of the Plan is to identify natural hazards and other vulnerabilities that affect the Region and offer mitigation strategies that will lessen the negative impacts of these hazards on people, homes, businesses, and communities.
The next steps are review of the Plan by Virginia Department of Emergency Management staff and then approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Once the Plan has been approved by FEMA, it will be adopted by the 21 jurisdictions in the Planning District. It is hoped that the local adoptions will be completed in the Spring of 2020.

New CSPDC Finance Director Hired  

Posted on by
Lee Bell has been hired as CSPDC’s new Finance Director and started work in October. Lee is a native of St. Simons Island, Georgia. Most recently Lee worked as a financial consultant at Ryzing Technologies in Staunton. Before that he was with several investment firms in Nashville including Ironside Investments which he founded. Lee earned a BA degree from Furman University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Lee and his wife Anne and their two sons, Gus and Gray, live in Staunton.