Okay, so locally there's the Smart Bus running between Roanoke and Blackburg with two stops in Christiansburg, the poorly scheduled so under-utilized Two Town Trolley (TTT) in Christiansburg, as well as the Blacksburg Transit system (which operates the TTT for our town). 

Regionally, see what's happening in Staunton and now we learn of the City of Radford and Radford University partnering for a grant through the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. 

One year ago, we blogged about providing non-car options for Christiansburg residents, ensuring our community is provided a cohesiveness between residential areas and commercial districts.  Residents see new businesses being required to install sidewalks, but often they are not connected to anything.  While council has long held the authority to require new subdivisions are provided with sidewalks, park areas and street lights, they haven't done so.

Since then, the NRV PDC Metropolitan Planning Organization prepared, collected and presented a survey on wanted public transportation options of Christiansburg residents.  Concurrently, some effort and progress seems to have occurred relative to expanding the Huckleberry Trail from its terminus at the unwalkable mall area, and obtaining CDBG "entitlement" money rather than ignoring it. 

This was followed by a presentation to council and discussed during 2009-2010 fiscal budget preparations for expanding and adding value to a town bus program earlier this year.  Anticipating federal and state funds, there was already 74% of the funds necessary included in the draft budget, which was then adopted as presented.  All this dialog included a work session about the presentation made several months' earlier.   

When the budget was adopted, Councilman Ernie Wade spoke to the enhanced bus service, stating that "just because the money's in there doesn't mean we'll spend it."

Well, if these tax funds are not spent on a new bus contract, will they be returned to citizens?  Does anyone really believe these federal and state funds will wait for our council to act, or will be they used in another community?  Does anyone think a better match ratio (77% state/federal, 23% local) will ever arrive?

Now, as proposed by BT, there's a lot of room for council to exercise control -- fares, routes, schedules, and other options.  One may ask why there was a gap between the mall loop and the downtown loop, which therefore didn't provide regular service by the high school, new aquatic center or recreation facility -- but there's no doubt major retailers aren't behind this (so they can have better access to customers and employees).  It also excluded Jim Vanhoozier's constituents who had asked him for a safe route to the rec center, and completed the bus survey (unless the call & schedule service is implemented), which was tabled after council received a preliminary cost estimate of $90,000. 

The BT proposal included a tentative timeline:

• April 7, presentation to council
• May, Decision from council & order their buses
• May/June, Memorandum of Understanding between BT and town
• June/July, develop implementation plan
• October, Phase I implementation (ie, begin expanded service)

So if you're wondering where to park your bike downtown, or how to ride there safely without any marked bike lanes or connecting sidewalks and marked pedestrian crossings -- ask your council members now.  And ask them why this subject has not been included on any public agenda since May.  Have any steps or discussions taken place relative to developing the June/July implementation plan?  If they can't answer you, ask which taxes they'll be cutting since they aren't spending what is in the budget for the stated reasons. 

Christiansburg offices are scheduled to be closed Friday, in observance of Independence Day.  Town Council has a regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 7th beginning at 7:30 pm. 

The stated agenda includes a Joint Public Hearing to rezone property on Plum Street in Cambria from general business to multi-family residential.  Council's appointed Planning Commission will also be discussing this application for rezoning on Monday, July 6; and a vote to approve or deny it is expected on July 21.  A Public Hearing on the town's 2009 Action Plan addressing sidewalk improvements along Roanoke and Park Streets using Community Develop Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement funds is also scheduled. 

The Finance Committee will report on the search and hiring process for a newly created Treasurer/Finance Director position, to be followed by the manager's Progress Report.  While the content of these reports is never known beforehand (and sometimes result in council votes), citizens may expect tourism  funding to be revisited again, according to a recent newspaper article. 

Staunton's IT wizard followed up on their website project -- fast! 

Like the concept and implementation, which took under 12 months.  On their own server, so no additional monthly maintenance costs.  For just $5000, an external consulting firm provided the template, or skin, of the revamped website. 

Kurt Plowman, Chief Technology Officer, indicated hosting the site means no out of pocket expenses going forward.  They used an open source tool, so there's no software purchase or maintenance fees either, with free upgrades and updates.  Access by whoever the administrator grants it to, from anywhere.

Once the revamped site goes live, there will be a bit of internal support with more active departments updating content each week.  Other departments may only have to spend an hour or two a month.

"Our philosophy has been that each department knows what its constituents need better than a centralized web master (aka "bottleneck").  And they'll have the ability to post as needed - so if something needs to be published overnight (snow closings, emergency situation, etc)  there is nothing preventing it," he said. 

Wow!  And a FOIA request wasn't required....

In December 2007, the Christiansburg Town Council voted unanimously to spend up to $40,000 on a new website.  Well, actually, not new -- just revamping the pitiful address which had been languishing from years of neglect.  This vote included up to $500 per month for regular "maintenance" -- without defining if this was for server space or adding content and features.  Features like online bill paying -- something that had been promised and even invested in previously (that software became obsolete and must now be replaced before this basic service can be provided). 

After an RFP (request for proposals) and the contract awarded in May 2008, the revamped site was slated for roll out by the end of the year.  That date slid back a bit and the new tool was launched January 30, 2009.   This was accompanied by a street banner (for a day or two) and the promise to quickly continue adding content and value.  And....it did come in about 30% under the approved amount.

So how's that going for ya, Christiansburg, six months later? 

If you want to see some real show-offs, look at Staunton's website here.  No, wait -- really!  Go back and hit that link!

It takes you to a page for the Clerk of Council, where you immediately see the Freedom of Information Act and Conflict of Interest links.  And note that council supported its clerk in achieving  the highest certification by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.    Explore this site a bit, and you'll see Staunton has a lot going on -- it's a "Virginia Main Street" with tourism, has a bus/trolley system, "green" initiatives and even a passenger rail station.  Plus, readers learn this is the birthplace of the manager form of government, and find comprehensive meeting minutes (often providing more than 40 pages worth of details, per meeting).  No talking about being progressive -- just showing how it looks when done, and done right in a systemic manner. 

Now, if you want to see Staunton's revamped website, take a peek HERE!  That's right, revamped -- new and improved and about to launch.  Great improvements to an already outstanding web presence, when contrasting format, features and content across the Commonwealth.  High quality, high tech (design timeline and costs will be reported once their IT wizard gets back from what appears to be a well-deserved vacation).  Based on 2000 US Census data, the City of Staunton had about a 20% larger population and covered an area of just 5 more square miles (taking the public school budget out, Christiansburg's budget is otherwise similar). 

As another blog site points out (Bacons Rebellion, a public policy project of the Thomas Jefferson Institute), "the advent of the internet was certainly a game changer...radically lower(ing) the barrier to becoming involved in public debates and greatly increased the ability of citizens to hold their government to account." 

Remembering the internet started gaining widespread popular use in the 1990s, this explains why "good government" now means providing access to anything needed to be a better informed citizen (even a budget analyst).  The City of Staunton appears to be providing one excellent example of how this can be done. 

So, Christiansburg -- can you, will you follow suit? 

Continuing an examination of the Christiansburg Comprehensive Plan, readers must remember this is required by the state for all localities (county, city or town).  It was adopted in 2003 and reviewed without change in 2007 following a significant annexation in 1998.  

SUMMARY OF PLANNING FACTORS - Economic Considerations

"The protection and support of existing neighborhoods and infill development is a priority of the Town...Promotion of the Town's three historic districts is part of the strategy to maintain the integrity and character of the Town communities. Creating walkway links to neighborhoods and commercial districts is also part of the plan for community cohesion in the Town."

Protecting established neighborhoods contributes to maintaining or increasing real property values, which provides sustainable tax assessments (which are conducted by the county).  There may be a majority of citizens who see a mixed track record for maintaining the integrity and character of these vital components of our community. 

How many neighborhoods do you see shifting immediately from residential to commercial, without mixed-use transition zones or buffers (berms, privacy fencing or landscaping), or conditional use permits granted for special (spot) zoning and land use?  Are major gateways into the town well landscaped, delineated or signed?  When the balance of residential dwellings shifts from  owner occupied to rental units, community cohesion may decrease.  This can lead to assessed property values flatlining or being diminished.  When these elements of planning are absent, existing neighborhood values may decrease, creating pressures to bump up real property tax rates.   

While the town passed a resolution to establish an "antiques corridor" in December 2007 and tasked its' appointed Planning Commission with recommending provisions for Historic District Overlays in March 2008, any promotion or simply furthering these directives to something other than words on a piece of paper just hasn't happened (beyond the votes or initiative taken by Councilman Stipes).  Historic districts have been a minor topic at a few meetings, yet it is clear this isn't a council priority.  The commission is uncertain about how to proceed and lacks an understanding of the value of contributing structures, even though there is an abundance of resources and expertise available. 

"Central Business - The downtown area's commercial uses are characterized by professional services, retail, and restaurants...Private property owners should be encouraged to enhance storefronts and create more downtown destinations for citizens...The Christiansburg CBD Revitalization Plan contains many examples of desirable downtown redevelopment. Of particular importance are the potentials for tourism, landscaping/streetscaping, signage for the downtown area, appearance of gateways to the downtown area, encouragement of pedestrian traffic, adaptive re-use of old structures, and allowances for residential opportunities."

Can anyone show where council's Central Business District Committee has called a meeting in the past ten years?  Can anyone give examples of how council has encouraged -- incented -- private investment?  This could certainly generate additional jobs and town tax revenues from various sources, in addition to the town becoming a destination instead of a bedroom community or place to drive through. 

Can anyone quote examples of desirable redevelopment listed in the CBD plan?  And does anyone know where the two downtown crosswalk signs are, slated for installation this past March?  Since these apparently present too large an obstacle for our town during potential heavy snowfalls, they were to be de-installed in September (90 days from now), which is odd since they remain in place year 'round in any other locality.  Can anyone name the date of the last significant snowfall that occurred here before November 1? 

Read the Summary and one will find many more examples of a vision put onto paper in 2003.  Examples of progress appear few and fragmented, therefore voters who feel this document is vital to our town's future need to ask themselves why this is so.