Oversight Committee

Monday night the Scottsville Town Council appointed George Goodwin to the Town’s “new” Enhancement Oversight Committee; he replaces Jim Brown. Although the Town established this committee at the beginning of the Streetscape Project, the universal observation is that it was a rubber stamp for whatever was placed before the committee and the minutes of its few meetings reflects that little was discussed.

Reports about the newly defined committee first meeting is in sharp contrast to its early incarnation. Barry Grove was elected chairman of the group having been nominated by the outspoken Sallie Massie over a suggestion that the Mayor chair the meetings. I have spoken individually with several committee members who all are pledging that the errors made during past projects will not be repeated for future projects and true oversight will be exercised with attention to detail.

I applaud this group for stepping up to the plate to insure that future projects will live up to their promise.

Crooked Lights

The east side of Valley Street recently got some new temporary lights. It seems that in the time before tree removal, our local supplier of electrons, Appalachian Power ordered the new lights and then put them in storage. When the first light came out, it was discovered that they had ordered the wrongs. What made matters worse was that the manufacturer had discontinued that model even though it had been a popular design having been used around the Albemarle County Courthouse in the big City of Charlottesville.

With poles in place, the power company that be, installed their “lights” as a temporary measure until the manufacturer can put the approved design back into production. With a pinkish glow, half the street is lit looking to many as an approach to an airport runway when one comes south down Valley Street. No time has been given when the correct light fixtures will be installed.

One day when you have nothing else to do and want a laugh, grab your level and head to the nearest light pole. Odds are it will not show it being plumb. Take almost any three poles and sight them and you will draw the same conclusion, they were not set plumb. Are you surprised?

Flag Lowering

The flags flying from Town Hall have been lowered for an in-determinant time. It seems that the deterioration of the wooden structure to which the flag mount was attached was beginning to crumble due to rot. While the Town has been focusing efforts on enhancing the street scape and on the condition of buildings owned privately in the Historic District, they have let their very own building deteriorate.

There has been at least one repair job on the columns and railings above the entrance to Town Hall since it was build a decade or so ago. Ironically, the Town has recently been contemplating the construction of yet another roofed entrance at the back side of Town Hall without given any consideration of the condition to the front. Rumors have it, that design work for this new construction is being done by the same architect who may also be providing design work for the Farmer’s Market.

Although, the rotting condition of the railings and columns are very visible, there is no visible line item in the Town’s budget to fix anything. In fact it was a member of the general public who pointed out the problem to the Town.

Street Lights

Has anyone noticed the “sample” street light in front of Town Hall? It was placed there to give the public a glimpse of the finishing touches the Town promised would help dress up the Streetscape Project. While the light has been up almost a month now, many people have not even noticed it and those that have seem to think the light probably was purchased from Lowes or Home Depot.

The light and its thin, flimsy looking pole is very unimpressive to most casual observers. But fear not Citizens of Scottsville, it is the wrong light. For proof, check out the ARB approved light in the Council meeting room of Town Hall. It would appear that someone has purchased the wrong lights and are in storage somewhere. A council member placed the blame for this blunder on the power company, AEP, and tried into insure those attending a recent Council meeting that the correct lights would be acquired so in the meantime the sample light was extinguished.

Can anything else go wrong you ask? But of course. But it seems that any current problems or delays are the result of either Embarq or AEP according to the wise ones in Town Hall. It seems that several poles may not come down as they are need to get power to the houses at 550 and 590 Valley Street.  They were overlooked by the great “engineering design firm” known as Volkert and Associates.  With all the years of planning, how where these properties overlooked? Both Embarq and AEP were handed an infrastructure system that is inferior in planning an execution.

A conversation with  any person sporting the logo of either utility company are quick to point out the problems they have encountered and will yet encounter. They are highly critical of Volkert.  Oddly when you attend any council meeting it is implied that Volkert done a fantastic job for the time.  In my book, Volkert and Linco (the genera contractor) should be placed on a leaking batteaux and sent downriver with no oars.

Deadline Update

As Gomer Pyle would say, “surprise, suprise, suprise!”

At tonight’s meeting of the governing body of the Town of Scottsville, Council Member Jim Hogan announced that there is a new deadline for the removal of overhead utilities and the installation of the new street lights. The new date has been placed at the end of February, an additional two weeks beyond what the Mayor was quoted as saying only six days ago in the Daily Progress. It seems these deadlines refer only refer to the illumination of the new lights. No deadlines have been given for additional sidewalk patches and repairs  once the utility poles have been taken down.

Part of the latest delay is due in part to Embarq’s delays. It seems that some conduit pipes that were installed as part of a cost overrun project, were rejected by the the telephone giant. It seems that no one consulted with the phone company as to how these conduits should have been installed. Because of this “screw-up” by the design firm of Volkert & Associates, Valley Street had to once again be dug up. This design flaw was supposedly inspected at a cost of $70 an hour to the Town and is part of a $20,000 cost overrun bill to the Town.

“Shazam!”

Another Deadline Announced by the Mayor

We have heard it before, whether it was on a TV newscast, the front page of the Daily Progress, a letter from the mayor, or at a Town meeting. This week the mayor announced yet another deadline for Streetscape completion. To quote the January 22 edition of the Daily Progress: “The project on Valley Street was originally slated for completion last summer. Phipps said the target now is the second week of February. We’re just waiting to get the new lights up,” Phipps said.

At a recent public meeting the Scottsville Town Administrator was asked about a completion date and deadlines for the remaining work on Streetscape. His response was that all such schedules went out the window six months ago and he had idea when anything would be completed. Now what, pray tell, is the mayor using as source material for his predictions? It must be the same source he has been using since this project began. Any sensible person would have concluded long ago that source is faulty.

A visit to the local hardware store yesterday to get a piece of window glass, prompted someone to suggest that maybe I should get enough glass to replace the textured glass in the window of the mayor’s office. By doing so, it was further suggested, the mayor might get a clearer view of what is actually happening on the street below his office window.

Anyone walking Valley Street can see much more needs to be done than just the installation of new lights. These new lights will only help illuminate the faults of the rest of the Streetscape project, the patched sidewalks, the broken new sidewalks, the transformers, the utility boxes on the fronts of store fronts, gray conduit pipes everywhere, the new overhead telephone line (more of this in a later post), and dirty buildings still sporting a covering of dust from Streetscape construction.

All of this is the result of “the $900,000-plus project (which) is the town officials’ grand vision to revive business and provide a new, improved look and feel (Daily Progress 12/12/07).” I personally am glad it is “grand” vision and not a mediocre vision.
Vision can be difficult to see in reality. Vision requires that one be able to see the details of a project from beginning to end. At it requires due diligence in seeing that the vision is carried out as planned.

When I renovated 350, 375, 410-430, 495-497, 510, 720, and 724 Valley Street some on my own and some with others, I did so not as part of any grand Streetscape program, but as part of a grandeur vision of Scottsville. For me it was a chance to truly save Scottsville. I and the others did this with no monetary support from the town nor any taxpayer on any level. It was done with complete private initiative. I am continuing this effort now with 732 Valley Street. Recent work by other property owners have shown that private initiative can accomplish much more in Scottsville than public programs.

In each commercial project, one major goal was to try and remove all utilities from the fronts and sides of each building. I succeeded in each project. This was not mandated by anyone nor any body such as the ARB, it was a personal choice. It is very disappointing to now see electric meter bases put back on the side of one building to the exact spot I had previously removed them from. It seems that was the easy way to get new service to the building. Even more upsetting is to see that no effort was made to remove any other utility connections from any other building, but instead added more clutter to the fronts of buildings. So much for “Saving Old Scottsville”, aka SOS and “enhancing” Valley Street. Oh, but I forget, SOS is another project that the mayor spearheaded.

I am not a wagering man, but any thoughts on when Streetscape will be finished? I have lent an ear to many possible dates, many of which are in another lifetime.

Cluster Boxes

Several years ago the United States Post Office announced that it needed more floor space to operate to accommodate its ever expanding customer base. Consequently, the owner of the West Main Street location acquired a neighboring lot of land hoping to be able to expand that facility. The USPO, not wishing to limit its options also started a search for other sites, some of which were outside the Town limits. If memory serves me, the USPO put all plans on hold due to budgetary concerns which gave the citizens a false sense of security that the USPO would not leave the downtown location.

Then, the beast awoke, and once again the USPO was looking for a larger home. Plans for the downtown site fell through, but an opportunity arose in the uptown area at the Scottsville shopping center. Once again concern arose amongst the residents and business owners in downtown Scottsville about the loss of not only the physical presence of the Post Office but also the convenience of picking up mail.

Because of the proximity of the Post Office to its customers, the USPO did not have to provide rural or city delivery to the downtown area. This required that anyone not getting home delivery had to rent a PO Box. Now that the Post Office is moving out of that area, their own regulations state that they must offer free delivery. Due to the narrowness of the Town’s streets and apparent lack of areas to place mail boxes, the Postal Carriers Union stepped in and decreed that mail delivery by rural carrier was an unsafe proposition, so as a compromise the USPO offered to place “cluster boxes” at a location in the downtown area.

Upon learning this I contacted the Mayor and made some suggestions about location so as to make it more convenient to the eventual patrons of these boxes. As usual, the Mayor brushed off my suggestions. It seems he had already worked out an arrangement with the USPO to have the boxes placed in the parking lot adjacent to the farmers market. Despite this, I continued to lobby on behalf of the citizens of Scottsville to have the boxes placed in a safe and convenient location.

Because of the delays with Streetscape, the Mayor’s site for the boxes was consumed by the presence of gravel, and machinery most of 2007 so no work could be done to prepare for the placement of 160 boxes. As the site was being also considered for a permanent structure for the farmer’s market, I suggested that an architect, instead of the landscape architect they had used,  be retained to look at the entire site and incorporate the market building, the VFW memorial, the parking, and the cluster boxes into one coherent plan. After several months the Town did secure the services of a certified architect, but when he presented his plans to the Town’s Architectural Review Board there was no mention of the cluster boxes. The ARB had never seen the Mayor’s plan for the boxes even though they would be placed in the Historic District. Any and all private activities in the district must receive approval from the ARB before being approved  and it would appear the Mayor circumvented the review of the ARB either by design or ignorance.

At this point the ARB asked for a review of the cluster box placement in the Historic District. After discussion with the Government Services Committee, there now seems to be a consensus that the boxes are inappropriate for placement in the Historic District as they are currently designed. They also looked at other sites and considered safety aspects as well.

Sadly for the the citizens of Scottsville, a open discussion about these boxes came at the same time as when the Post Office started the process of moving.  Although home delivery is much more preferred, in fairness to the USPO, they thought the issue was a done deal and had the boxes available for placement and all they needed was the concrete slab on which to place them. It is my understanding, unlike that of the Mayor as quoted in a recent article in the Daily Progress, it is not a matter of money for rural delivery, but a lack of funding for a city carrier. These are two different forms of mail delivery and apparently not understood by the Mayor.

At the last Council meeting, the Mayor was instructed to contact Congressmen Virgil Goode about home delivery again either either by rural or city carrier. Other than that, no action was taken to resolve the issue although there was a lot of discussion by council who are concerned by the current situation. In the meantime, everyone who had thought they would have free delivery at long last, had to pay up for continued use of their PO Boxes. The fact that the ARB was not consulted at the very beginning of this process years ago has ended up costing the community more money and added frustration over the loss of the Post Office. Just like other projects in the Town, the current debacle is the result of poor planning by the Town, poor use of the ARB, and the inability to receive and use input of community citizens.

According to the Mayor, the current state of Streetscape is the result of seven years of planning. It now now seems the current mess with mail delivery is the result of a similar planning process although this time only a couple of years were used. To their credit, several Town Council members have now recommended that an Oversight Committee be established to work on all future projects.

Sorry Folks

I am sorry for the long delay in making another post. I had this great idea of sharing with you a listing of past Scottsville businesses in a story about the frequent turnover in businesses and their ownership in our small town. I planned on creating a wiki page so that everyone could contribute information and hopefully fill in the blanks. As with many of my projects, I underestimated the scope of my simple list. I have been consulting with three other learned people in Scottsville and we have each concluded that our memories are not what they once were. In our defense, I should state the number of businesses has been more numerous that even I recall even though I have witnessed them coming and going in Scottsville since the late seventies.

Another factor in my delay in making a post is an issue that I have had to address with the Scottsville Town Council. Parking spaces are at a premium in downtown Scottsville and instead of creating more parking, the Public Safety Committee, under the guidance of the Mayor, is seeking to eliminate parking which will adversely effect one of my rental properties. I promise to speak more on this issue later.

Dew Drop Inn No More

One of Scottsville’s most notable attractions and a former favorite eatery is no more. Made famous through the television show “The Waltons”, the Dew Drop Inn aka the Pig and Steak Too, has itself become a footnote in the historical annuals of Scottsville. Sold recently at a foreclosure sale after having been closed for several months, the new owner has striped the former restaurant back to the bar bones of the building itself and has no plans to put a restaurant back. Instead the building, built circa 1840, may house office or retail space with living quarters upstairs.

The very first Dew Drop sign, a green neon lighted sign, that had laid undisturbed for years in the attic of the building was sold back in December on eBay. While one bidder had hoped to keep the sign in Scottsville, he was outbid at the last moment and as a result the sign instead traveled to Nelson County as the property of the Walton’s Mountain Country Store.

Even though it was the second oldest business establishment in down town Scottsvlle, the early history of the Dew Drop is unknown at least to this author. Does it in fact date back to the time of Earl Hamner’s youth? Was in always in the same location? Who ran it before the Lohr’s purchased it? Are there any other artifacts from a younger Dew Drop? If any one can shed any information on the history of one of Scottsville’ most notable eateries, please share it in a comment posting.

Canal Basin Carwash

Turn back the pages of history to January 1999 when the Virginia Department of Transportation awarded the very first ISTEA or TEA-21 grant to the Town of Scottsville. The grant came as a result of years of planning between the Town and the Chamber of Commerce to construct an outdoor park primarily chronicling the history of river transportation and its connection with the Town. Nearly two years latter construction commenced. While noble in its goal, the resulting facility has not measured up to what the Town promised its citizenry. Sounds familiar does it not?

Like Streetscape, one gets the impression it will never be finished. Three boats were envisioned for the park and the first was donated, I believe in 2003. Nearly four years latter work started on the second, so that by the end of 2007 the park has one deteriorating batteaux and half a hull of a packet boat and an empty slot for the third boat.

Now I realize that the work is being done by volunteers and that is will take time, but dollars were granted by the government and by foundations and individuals to create this park starting 9 years ago. Like Streetscape, it seems no one in Victory Theater is overly concerned about how long it takes to finish one of its projects, yet they will jump on the private citizen for taking to long on a project. There are way too many double standards in Scottsville.

When the park was first planned, a claim was made that it would become a tourist draw for the Town. Scottsville would become a “destination” so the planners decreed. Sightseers would turn north from a day at Appomattox and other would steer south after leaving Monticello or Ashlawn/Highland. Better yet, bus tours would be re-routed to Scottsville to see this marvel of design and interpretation. Yet when it was designed, the plans called for the elimination of street side parking right in front of the Park so I am not sure where all the buses were to have parked. But as luck would have it, the parking has not been needed.

The park was designed by a landscape architect and like Streetscape; it had no one involved in the design process that had the credentials of someone who would be sympathetic to the historical character of the Town. I had to laugh at the meeting when it was announced that the brick laid in the monoliths would match the bond coursing that exists in the Scottsville Museum. Wow, what a great tie in.

And what do visitors and the area citizens think of it? I have heard “key members” of the community, though probably not the same group that the Town hears from refers to the park as a carwash. I have met visitors who entered the Town from the south and saw the park while crossing over the James River Bridge and though it was a public rest stop with a large restroom building.

It is evident the Town has not used resources as they should have in designing its projects. It failed then; it is failing today and it failed in several other projects all of which are fodder for other postings. So much potential, so much wasted opportunity, and no accountability.