Depot Dazed

Freedom of Information Act Birthday is July 4, 2009.

If you have been reading this series of articles, you may have picked up some new information on FOIA at the Federal level. Few people’s daily lives are directly affected by the Federal FOIA. However, each state has its own version of FOIA, and that can bring the issue right into your yard (both literally and figuratively).

One thing becomes crystal clear when you take the time to compare the various acts of the states. Federal FOIA is equal for everyone across the nation. The State FOIA (or whatever name they choose for their open government laws) may be equal for everyone within the state, but the differences between states are significant! If you are considering moving to another state in the future, you may want to take a few minutes to look at how that state compares to where you currently live as it pertains to your right to access of public records.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press provides a comprehensive tool for doing just that, and it is available on the internet for free! This tool is the Open Government Guide.

For instance:
Court invalidation of decisions:

• The State of Florida clearly gives the courts the authority to invalidate any actions taken while a meeting was held in violaiton of the Sunshine Law.
• The State of Virginia does not address this issue.

Interviews for public employment:

• The State of Florida provides no exemption for interviews.
• The State of Virginia allows that prospective appointees may meet in closed session, but the appointment itself must be public.

Penalties for failure to give adequate notice:

• The State of Florida considers this “irreparable public injury”. All decisions are voided. No finding of intent is required and one the violation has been “established, prejudice is presumed”. Those public officials in attendance may be fined or criminal charges pursued.
• In the State of Virginia, the standard penalties under FOIA apply. Thus, Statute 2.2-3714 applies. It must be proved that the violation was willfully and knowingly made each individual can be fined from $250 to $1000 for first violation and from $1000 to $2500 for additional events. This money goes to the State Literary Fund.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press also provides ongoing coverage of FOIA cases and law changes across the nation (we’ll get to Virginia specific soon:) If you want to find out more about the Senate passing a bill to withhold torture photos, you’ll find a link here. In Florida a case is in progress whereby the National Collegiate Athletic Association has tried to keep information unreleased that pertains to academic scandal sanctions.

You get the general idea. Watching what is happening in different states concerning those state freedom of information laws, can tell you a lot about how much the lawmakers care about openness in government or secrecy of the same.

I have dropped a lot of hints to see if people would look but nobody has mentioned anything yet. The Town of Christiansburg has posted the Town’s Code on its new and improved website.

At the webpage you will find options to be able to see or download individual chapter or the overall ordinance. Funny thing is that (I haven’t finished the line-by line analysis yet) in the individual Chapters there is a Chapter 10 Erosion and Sediment Control. It is a 14 page .pdf document.

Now, if you go to the full copy of the Code, Chapter 10 is titled: Erosion and Sediment Control and Stormwater Management. It is 47 pages long and broken down into 3 sections. These sections are: Article I. Erosion and Sediment Control, Article II. Stormwater Management, Article III. Illicit Discharge.

Maybe that is what was meant by the State of Virginia directive that the Town must update it’s Storm Water Management section of the Town Code. Maybe it was to remove it from visibility in order to be able to ignore it more effectively. Maybe the Town is actually working on the updates, but such a note should be found. Where is this update that was ordered? If the codes were out of complaince was that a significant part of why all of the flooding occurred.

What happened here was what is known as Urban Flooding, Flooding due to increases in impervious surfaces and sections of disturbed land surface. T he same amount of water fall would NOT have had the same impact 5 or 10 years ago.

I can just see the new real estate ads now: Free Personal Flotation Devices with Every Home Purchase!

New photos on myvaresources.com. Check ‘em out!

This omission in the Codes would be funny if the very thing that got me started on this whole process had not been the fact that I raised an issue on parking and was told I had no standing. To prove the point, I was provided a copy of the relevant State Code that did show that I had no standing. Unfortunately, the copy I was given was not complete. I went to the actual State Code and found that the lines that were omitted clearly stated that I did have standing and my request was valid. Once someone lies to me I never believe that person again without checking out what that person said. In this case the person was the Town of Christiansburg. Over time, they have proven that my beliefs were well founded.

Okay, so you make estimates on stormwater based upon recent years flow. You don’t take into consideration that recent years are essentially drought years. Then the rain comes and what happens. We currently have flooding all over the Town of Christiansburg.

Despite the fact that the Town was out fighting stormwater problems during a fairly light rain a few days ago (I’ll get those pics up when I can), a bigger rain comes and low and behold, the Cambria Emporium has a new mud floor, the Historic Cambria Depot has a watermark about 16″ up from ground level on the side of the building.

Some of this can be attributed, I’m sure, to the fact that a local business’s dumpster turned over and blocked the one extra drain in the area that diverts stormwater under the railroad and into the Creek. (By the way, the Creek level is fine, it never flooded.)

Some of this, particularly given how extensive this flood damage has been throughout the town, is more likely due to poor planning for stormwater management.

By the way, did you know that per the Town Code any work done on streets/sidewalks, etc. that raises the level of that entity requires that the Town Manager provide written notices to adjacent property owners and that waivers are obtained before the work begins? (Just a quick aside.)

Please let me know what you are hearing as to the flooding in Christiansburg. I want to know where it occurred and, if possible, the types of damage done. Thus far, I have heard that a tremendous amount of it has been in the Mall area. (Let’s see….massive, expansive development, poor stormwater management, and flooding? Is there a relationship?)

So I guess the goal of saving taxpayer money by taking shortcuts only works if you live on the higest property in Town.

From Virginia State Codes:

§ 15.2-2239. Local planning commissions to prepare and submit annually capital improvement programs to governing body or official charged with preparation of budget.

A local planning commission may, and at the direction of the governing body shall, prepare and revise annually a capital improvement program based on the comprehensive plan of the locality for a period not to exceed the ensuing five years. The commission shall submit the program annually to the governing body, or to the chief administrative officer or other official charged with preparation of the budget for the locality, at such time as it or he shall direct. The capital improvement program shall include the commission’s recommendations, and estimates of cost of the facilities, including any road improvement and any transportation improvement the locality chooses to include in its capital improvement plan and as provided for in the comprehensive plan, and the means of financing them, to be undertaken in the ensuing fiscal year and in a period not to exceed the next four years, as the basis of the capital budget for the locality. In the preparation of its capital budget recommendations, the commission shall consult with the chief administrative officer or other executive head of the government of the locality, the heads of departments and interested citizens and organizations and shall hold such public hearings as it deems necessary.

Localities may use value engineering for any capital project. For purposes of this section, “value engineering” has the same meaning as that in § 2.2-1133.

(Code 1950, § 15-966; 1962, c. 407, § 15.1-464; 1975, c. 641; 1976, c. 650; 1996, c. 553; 1997, c. 587; 2006, c. 565.)

Once again, if you head back to the minutes and documents of the past, this is something that has been only partially done (at best) or all but ignored (at worst). Many of the items included in the Town’s alleged Capital Improvement Plan are not even Capital Improvements! Capital Improvements do not include money to non-profit agencies and the Planning Commission has no business offering decisions/suggestions to the Town Council on that. Heck! It’s not a land use issue.

This is one of the reasons why we desperately need to get Planning Commissioners to complete the certification program. They have little knowledge of what their role is and boundaries are crossed on a routine and regular basis.

Since this is where most of of Town Council members come from, it creates an even worse issue when the people they are reporting to have the same lack of training as the people doing the reporting. This lack of knowledge serves to encourage BAD decisions. This tool, if it were provided as it is intended, would help the Town Council make fact-based decisions that are in the benefit of the public while maintaining a high level of accountability to the taxpayers for use of tax funds.

Although the Town Manager has informed me that the Town does a Capital Improvement Plan instead of a Capital Improvement Program, there is no separate distinction with the State Codes. Why even Wikipedia shows the terms are interchangeable. In fact, Wikipedia does a superb job of clarifying the purpose and components that comprise a Capital Improvement Program/Plan. You really should take a few minutes to read this. Then you’ll know more than the Planning Commission and Town Council members about the topic:)

After having raised this issue several times over the last year, I had hoped to see some positive movement on this front. Alas, I am again disappointed. Maybe next year….may the next NEW TOWN COUNCIL!

Come watch the festivities on Monday afternoon, maybe…just maybe, they will prove me wrong. (I keep hoping.)

This just in:
Christiansburg Town Council will meet in a special work session Monday, May 18, 2009 at 2 p.m. at Christiansburg Town Hall located at 100 East Main Street, Christiansburg, VA.

Purpose of the meeting will be to review information from Blacksburg Transit on a proposal to extend bus service within the Town of Christiansburg.

Well, it is certainly not at a time that makes it easy for people to attend but the upside is it leaves you plenty of time to call or write your Town Council members, time to write those letters to the editor of the Roanoke Times or the Messenger.

I’ll do my best to record the meeting but storage space and time is becoming cumbersome. I will probably just start putting those parts of the meetings that are most important up online rather than the whole meetings. I will make cd’s available upon request for those who want full copies though. Hope to see you at this meeting.

I have been a bit busy with some research, but I just had to stop and write because this issue has really upset me.

What he said!!! Council stalls plan to add to bus service. In this Roanoke Times article, Lerone Graham hit the proverbial nail on the head. When I left Town Council meeting Tuesday night, I was livid. I could not believe that 2 of the Town Council members and the Mayor were trying to shut down negotiations on extending bus service when they have had weeks to study this issue and have their questions answered. Now, they suddenly want more questions answered, they want more information. Well, it is pretty clear to me that either they haven’t a clue as to how grants and such work, or they are simply postponing until the deadline is close enough that they can then blame it on someone else. These additional questions have been bantered around with citizens but NOT to the people with the answers. A great example of smoke and mirrors government.

What the article does not go into is that these very council members and the mayor were very active participants in planning commission recommendations to the town council concerning the ongoing unplanned growth that is consuming the Town of Christiansburg like a cancer. Items like the Aquatic Center and even a Civic Center were discussed by the Planning Commission and included in the Comprehensive Plan. However, look for areas where traffic concerns, walkways, sidewalks, accessibility by citizens to shopping, healthcare, etc. (i.e., through a bus service), small neighborhood parks suitable for families and neighborhoods to use (many of the ones the Town claims are actually the retention pond areas of developments…isn’t that sweet of them!) and other issues which have a direct impact on daily quality of life.

A tremendous amount of energy has gone into finding ways to take money from the Tourism Development Committee so that Christiansburg can do its own promotions for tourist, yet they can’t take the time to research and investigate what it is that would make the lives of citizens better.

As one planning commissioner recently noted: bringing in businesses increases taxes and therefore is good. Duh!  Bringing in businesses without proper planning, assessing the impact on neighborhoods, traffic, law enforcement, fire department, rescue services, roads needing to be built, other infrastructure being over stressed or needing to be expanded, all of those take up more tax money than that business is going to generate.

It is time for elected and appointed officials to get a clue! YOU WORK FOR US!

Kudos to Michael Barber, Brad Stipes, and Henry Showalter. All of them showed that they had taken the time to do some of the homework and they supported having the means to support the bus routes ready should a decision be made to do so. The way that Ernie Wade, Jim VanHoozier, and Mayor Ballengee want to do it means that it would be another year or more before grants could be reapplied for…given that the town didn’t have to pay for those grants, one can only wonder if that opportunity will even exist next year. Other people and agencies are not going to keep doing the town’s work for them.

Chritiansburg doesn’t do grants because they do not have the staff or the expertise. Instead they sit back and wait for someone else to come up with grants …. maybe that’s what “wait and see” is really all about….”let’s wait and see if someone else will do it for us, that way we don’t have to do anything except show up at meetings.”

We need Town Council members to start looking out for citizens, or we need citizens to start looking out for new Town Council members. Wonder which one it will be.

Perhaps someone will ask your question at one of the various candidate forums held by or co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters. You can count on hearing about those that are upcoming on this blog. I am already starting to think about questions I want to ask, and I hope you will as well.

There is going to be one very, very special candidate forum that is being sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Virginia and AARP. These two groups have come together to develop a forum for those individuals running for the position of Governor of Virginia. As my previous blog topic shows, my feelings are that while politics my be about parties, government is about people. This forum is going to be about government, not about parties. I believe it may well be the best forum of it’s type around. Issues, not party positions will form the core of the discussion and you will have a chance to see how these officials respond to unscripted questions. The forum is to be televised and available throughout the state. Heck, if they get me a copy, I’ll post it on my website:)

Throughout the state local League of Women Voters groups will be hosting forums for other elected officials. I will try to keep track of those so that any of you who are interested can have a chance to participate.

In the meantime, do a little thinking and a little looking to find out what your areas of interest are these days. Do you care about the environment? Land use? Health care? Transportation? Your local and state economy? Education? Social services? Or any of the other myriad of issues that our elected officials make decisions concernin? Have you checked to see what bills incumbents have sponsored and whether those bills help or hinder you? Have you checked the voting records of incumbents to find out how he/she has voted on issues that you feel to be critical?

There is plenty of time and plenty of information available. I will be putting information about those sources of information on this blog. (I will probably put a few of my observations as well.)

“All elections are local elections”. This is particularly true in a Dillon Rule state where it is the state government that chooses what the town, cities, and counties are allowed to do (or NOT do). It may well be that the greatest way to make changes locally is to make changes at the state level.

If any of you have ideas for questions to ask candidates, feel free to get them to me in blog comment or contact the author. I bet I can figure out a way to make use of them:)

Stormwater is not something that has suddenly appeared in the world. It has been in existence since the first drop of water fell from the sky (an act of God, if you will). Originally associated with rainfall, it now, includes a myriad of human activities including, but not limited to: excessive watering of lawns and gardens, washing cars, paved roadways, concrete platforms, discharges from various types of plants, sewage, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

In the form of rainfall, where the surface upon which the rain falls is also in a natural state (dirt, stone, grass, woodlands, etc.) nature does some truly remarkable things to make good use of the rainfall while minimizing negative impacts. Humankind, however, does not seem to have the same type of understanding that nature does.

In recent decades, the philosophy seems to be build, build, and build more. Most often, this ‘building’ has occurred in such a manner as to be in direct defiance of all of those measures used by nature to effectively utilize stormwater. Where nature would have plants growing that were consistent with the rainfall patterns of a specific geographic area, human kind has planted vast ‘farms’ of asphalt. Where the leaves of trees would have helped slow and direct the flow of water, making sure that plenty of that water was available to nourish the roots of the tree, there are now houses stacked side by side. Of course, each of those houses usually wants to have a paved roadway to access it and a paved parking area, and for good measure, maybe a garage.

The grass, plants, shrubs, trees, and even rocks that nature used to make the flow of water a productive contributor to the environment have been supplanted by vast acres of impervious surface. All of the natural ways of handling stormwater are dwindling away into non-existence. Or, are they?

There is a new trend in land development called Low Impact Development (LID). The United States Environmental Protection Agency has a nice website where you can obtain more information on this idea. What seems to be the key component to this Low Impact Development is that it works in new developments and can be integrated into existing developments. It provides opportunities for the property owner and the developer to both play active parts in helping to minimize stormwater problems such as flooding, damage to homes, pollution, waterway degradation, loss of habitat for fish and wildlife..

Of course, there are a lot of things already being done to handle stormwater, very costly things. What nature managed to do for centuries for free, humankind has developed into a process that has become a ‘black hole’ for taxpayer money.

A recent study provided by the EPA, Reducing Stormwater Costs through Low Impact Development (LID) Strategies and Practices is available on the Internet. This document shows that the benefits of Low Impact Development are not restricted to simply the cost of handling stormwater.

While this study focuses on the cost reductions and cost savings that are achievable through the use of LID practices, it is also the case that communities can experience many amenities and associated economic benefits that go beyond cost savings. These include enhanced property values, improved habitat, aesthetic amenities, and improved quality of life. This study does not monetize and consider these values in performing the cost calculations, but these economic benefits are real and significant. For that reason, EPA has included a discussion of these economic benefits in this document and provided references for interested readers to learn more about them. (p.iii, Forward)

As noted on page 1, para.2 of this report: “Extensive development in the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon. for the past two decades, the rate of land development across the country has been twice the rate of population growth”. It is this very fact that makes it mandatory that RESPONSIBLE development must be required by local governments. Low Impact Development is one such approach to responsible development yet, it has many features that the average homeowner/renter can incorporate into existing landscapes to further reduce the negative impact on our natural resources.

The techniques discusses affect various areas of stormwater management (p.3-5)

1. Conservation designs

2. Infiltration practices

3. Runoff storage practices

4. Runoff conveyance practices

5. Filtration practices, and

6. Low impact landscaping

Each of these contain applications that mimic those stormwater management techniques used by nature for centuries. This is a significant change from the more recent historical approach to stormwater management that approaches it from an engineering perspective.. This approach has often created situations in which a solution generated different types of problems later in the process.

Some of the benefits of Low Impact Development (p.6) include:

1. Environmental Benefits

   1. Pollution abatement

   2. Protection of downstream water resources

   3. Ground water recharge

   4. Water quality improvements/reduced treatment costs

   5. Reduced incidence of CSO’s (sewage related)

   6. Habitat improvements

2. Land Value and Quality of Life Benefits

   1. Reduced downstream flooding and property damage

   2. Real estate value/property tax revenue

   3. Aesthetic value

   4. Public spaces/quality of life/public participation

3. Compliance Incentives

   1. Regulatory compliance credits

4. Cost Considerations

   1. Use of natural drainage rather than infrastructure (reduced infrastructure costs)

   2. Reduction in impervious surface (reduced construction cost)

   3. Incorporated into landscaping could yield room for additional housing units.

   4. Natural management methods require less maintenance

Of particular note is Table 2 (p.12) where the study evaluated 17 different projects and compared as to Conventional Development Cost and Low Impact Development Cost. In all but one of those, there was a significant savings. Only Kensington Estates reported that the LID cost was higher than the conventional development cost.. In part this was due to the choice of a semipervious material for paved areas.. Furthermore their design brought imprevious area from 30% down to 7%!!!

This study shows some of the potential benefits to Low Impact Development, and, at the least, warrants some attention by our local elected officials and planning departments. There is a lot more information readily available on the Internet and from other government resources that would provide local jurisdictions in Virginia more than enough information to begin incorporating some of these criteria into zoning and subdivision ordinances.

There is no need to do things the way they have been done for the last 30 years simply because it is the easy way out. After all, would you go to a doctor or dentist that still practiced based on how things were done 30 years ago?

Well, you can come by the Cambria Toy Station this Saturday or Sunday (Saturday April 25, 11 AM to 6 PM or Sunday April 26, 1 PM to 5 PM), register your/your child’s bike and get a free child’s bicycle helmet (while they last). You can also go by the Police Department to do the same. (No purchase required.)

Kudos to Mike Barber for bring this issue before town council.

Recent research shows that head injuries (even for those wearing bicycle helmets) has increased by 10 percent since 1991. Perhaps this is due to the fact that more and more people are using this form of transportation.

Does this mean that helmets do not help? ABSOLUTELY NOT! That same article shows that even if head injuries occur, brain injuries are reduced by as much as 88%. So for an ‘insurance’ of less that $10 (in many stores) you may not be able to prevent an accident, but you can significantly reduce the possibility that your child or you would sustain a significant head injury.

Good bicycle safety is equally important. Follow the rules, ride with courtesy and respect, watch out for the other driver/rider, all of these are just good common sense.

Spring is definitely in the air. Traffic has become more and more of an issue in Christiansburg, and more people are using bicycles. Now is the time to take that extra step in safety by obtaining a bicycle helmet for you and/or your child. That will be particularly true if Christiansburg does what the state allows and makes it mandatory for all bicycle riders under the age of 14 to use a bicycle helmet.

If you don’t feel this is important, simply stop any police officer, nurse, doctor, psychologist, physical therapist, speech therapist, etc. Ask that person if they have ever dealt with someone who has had a head injury while riding their bicycle. Then ask if they recommend wearing a helmet.

I hope that when this ordinance comes before town council that every health care professional and bicyclist group in the region comes to that meeting and lends support to an ordinance that could save lives.

If you are the driver of a vehicle, it could be you that accidentally hits a person of any age who is riding a bicycle. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that people were wearing helmets and that by doing so, there would be far less damage done to the person. After all, it is not just the bicycle rider who has to live with the results of an accident.

I’ve previously used information from the Auditor of Public Accounts website for various reasons. Today, I wanted to know more about the sources of revenue of the Town of Christiansburg. I got caught up in the data on the percentage of tax revenue coming from different sources. Unfortunately, it does take some time to work with the data and get it into a reasonable form. In order to have some comparison data, I started with the 2007 data.

Here is some of the information I found in a comparison of Christiansburg data with that of 34 other large towns For the 2007 fiscal year (n=35 towns) based on highest to lowest:

• # 26 in real property as a source of revenue
• # 29 in Public Service Corp. Property as a source of revenue
• # 27 in Personal Property tax as a source of revenue
• # 8 in Machinery & Tools tax as a source of revenue
• # 11 in Local Sales & Use tax as a source of revenue
• # 16 in Consumer Utility tax as a source of revenue
• # 24 in Business Licenses as a source of revenue
• # 14 in Franchise tax as a source of revenue
• # 23 in Vehicle License tax as a source of revenue
• # 29 in Bank Franchise tax as a source of revenue
• # 5 in Cigarette & Tobacco tax as a source of revenue
• # 8 in Lodging tax as a source of revenue
• # 5 in Meals tax as a source of revenue
• #7 in Emergency Telephone tax as a source of revenue
• # 21 in Other (whatever that means) as a source of revenue

Remember that these are sorted from HIGHEST to LOWEST.

The Auditor of Public Accounts has in dept information that shows you where money goes and where it comes from. It takes a bit of time to get use to the format used, but then, it is piece of cake to just download the whole files, cut and paste the areas of interest into a spreadsheet and  run all kinds of tests on the numbers.

I haven’t finished the 2008 data yet, but I look forward to a comparison of the results since there were some significant slow downs in a lot of the major areas.

Considering the loss of businesses due to the economy, one would expect to see some decreases in some of these. However, the town did raise taxes last year in some of these areas so maybe there will not be that much of a drop. Guess I’ll have to wait and see what the data shows:)

By Carol Lindstrom On April 9 at 1:00 AM