George,

This is an email I sent some people after the School Board meeting last Thursday.

Thanks for sharing your post meeting thoughts with us. I guess we just disagree on this one though I very much appreciate you and others keeping after government about your concerns on this controversial road project. As noted before -- City Council purchased this land at no cost to the school system and gave the schools use of it for athletic fields (which the City built at no cost to the schools) WITH THE UNDERSTANDING BY ALL THAT THIS CORNER OF THE PROPERTY WAS IN THE PATH OF THE LONG PLANNED MEADOWCREEK PARKWAY. Now the City has come back and asked the School System for its consent to do what was originally understood by all at the time of the property's purchase and donated use (i.e. build the Parkway on these few acres at the corner of the property the City purchased for the School System).

The city at some point put up a temporary softball field which is really inadequate as a ball field (I could even hit a home run there, and there is no fence even, to keep it going down a steep woody embankment). The field has gotten virtually no use except recently the girls JV softball team was using it. The Varsity softball field is now going to be lighted so that the JV girls can easily share practice time with the Varsity girls just like the boy's teams do on the one baseball field. The type of field space we need is a rectangular field but even that is just needed in the Spring. It looks like this will be accommodated in McIntire park which is closer to CHS than this corner of the Melbourne property if we were able to re grade the softball field into a rectangular field.

I wish the school system had been brought into the design process earlier, but given the situation (see above) I definitely do not think it is the proper province of the School System to decide whether or not the road should exist. As you know this long planned road is also part of a bargain the City at least believes it has struck with the County regarding regional transportation including the Eastern Connector and a Southern Parkway (projects that perhaps you support). Moreover, as you probably know our legislators, and VDOT officials are of the opinion that if the area fails to move forward with this planned, and funded road as was done with the 29 Western Bypass -- that the state will not look kindly on funding future projects the area needs -- e.g. the Eastern Connector.

For the school Board to reach the decision you want ( i.e. refusing the City's request to grant consent for the easement over this 4 acres which was at all times understood to be on the chopping block), clearly not only would be a transportation decision -- it would be a huge transportation decision that would shoot down years of planning, large amounts of funding already spent, negotiations with the County of regional transportation, and potentially future funding for our local roads. Such a monumental decision should be made by the people elected to make transportation decision, and not School Board members who the electorate had no basis to believe would be making such a crucial decision or knowledge of what position they would take. (I do agree that there certainly could be situations where a School Board should be at the table regarding transportation planning e.g. building a road in front of a new school -- like Monticello HS , that for better or worse has a busy large commercial type road in front -- but the Parkway issue is nothing close to that situation here 40 years down the road, property given with the understood future location of the road, the road's is already designed, money spent, future money on the line . . .)

I believe the resolution we passed covers the school concerns regarding this already planned and design road, and that further discussion and information was unnecessary to express our concerns, conditions, and expectations. While I'm sure Ms. Blount would have taken comfort to know that the feds did review the project and found

"the Final Environmental Assessment indicates that NEPA and all other applicable Federal environmental requirements have been met. The project as proposed will have no historic or archeological resources impacts, no Section 4(f) impacts, no wetland impacts, no threatened or endangered plant and animal species impacts, and require no displacements of any families, businesses, or non-profit organizations."

I don't know that it would have changed her vote and it certainly would not have change the rest of our votes. The issue regarding the Park land's protection is one that the City should indeed be clear about to the County and VDOT in order to protect its bargain, but it is not particularly a school issue. Nevertheless, we have expressed our expectation that the land should be protected. Regarding the City's approval of the Parkway -- the fact remains that the City (to date at least) has given the green light to the Parkway with conditions, and was asking the School Board's consent so that it can give it's consent to VDOT after whatever further consideration they undertake.

Our getting the issue back to the City gives them (the ones elected to make transportation decisions) more time to consider the bigger transportation issues that are really your interest and those of other Parkway opponents. I do hope that Councilors will further consider issues surrounding the transportation issue, of having this road. In fact, I have suggested to them (in my capacity as a citizen) that they consider adding conditions (e.g. benchmarks) to the granting of the easement over this piece of property to ensure that the County does in fact move forward with the regional road plan, so that if the County does not then the City could potentially at least, could close the whole Parkway down until the County does move forward.

Anyway, thanks again for you activism on this and other issues. Your kind of responsible well thought out input is definitely an asset to our community.

Ned Michie (Electronic mail, May 4, 2008)

Ned Michie is Chair of the Charlottesville School Board