By Lizzie Stone, city council reporter
Harrisonburg officials are still gathering information on how the Trump administration’s move to freeze federal grants might affect the city, Deputy City Manager Amy Snider told the city council on Tuesday.
The city staff’s research started after President Donald Trump issued a message Monday night to all federal agencies ordering them to stop financial assistance, including grants and loans.
Harrisonburg often receives federal funding for city programs and projects, including a recent grant from the EPA for clean-energy school buses. It is still unclear how the recent order would affect federal funding.
Earlier Tuesday, a judge temporarily blocked the Trump White House’s order to halt grant funding. Lawsuits have also been filed against it.
Snider said the “rapidly evolving” nature of the situation will make it difficult for the city to understand exactly how it will be affected. City officials will continue to study possible impacts and will make a report to the council when they know more, she said.
Community Connectors project for Northeast Neighborhood to begin gathering input
A Feb. 15 design meeting for residents of the Northeast Neighborhood will mark the next step in a long-term project to bring access and connection to underserved community members.
The meeting is intended to gather feedback from community members on their vision for development. The project team is trying to encourage engagement and attendance from the neighborhood so they can address issues directly, and work to shape future economic investments and development to reflect what the community wants.
The program is funded by a grant from Smart Growth America, and is intended to “repair damage from divisive infrastructure” according to a presentation Snider gave to the city council. Snider, a member of the project team, said the $130,000 grant will support the creation of a Small Area Plan to guide future construction and development.
In Harrisonburg, the project team is working to engage the Northeast Neighborhood in a public planning process because the community is still affected by past “urban renewal” development projects done by the city in the mid 20th century. Specifically, the construction of Mason Street through the downtown area destroyed many historical homes and the community that existed there. Many community members still feel disconnected with the city because of this history, she said.
Council member Monica Robinson, a member of the City Connectors project through her role as executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project, said she was also excited about a historical research team which will look at the neighborhood.
“We’ve been very interested for a long time in telling the urban renewal story,” Robinson said. “It’s been hard for a lot of people in the city to understand the struggle because they don’t even know about urban renewal enough.”
Based on previous feedback, Snider said the project team wants to preserve community identity and cultural heritage, and repair past harms, while promoting economic opportunities and enhancing public spaces.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting:
- Council members voted to raise the limits on which household incomes qualify for personal property tax relief, from $50,000 to $55,000 a year. Residents need to be over the age of 65 or have a qualifying disability to apply for relief, in addition to a net worth under $100,000 and an income of $55,000 or less.
- The council appointed two members to the Environmental Performance Standards Advisory Committee. David Powell, who was reappointed, and James Hensley, who has a background on other environmental commissions, will join the group, which recommends policy goals and approaches aimed at improving the city’s energy efficiency and environmental conservation. Council members said they hope to see more applications, because other members decided not to reapply and there are still open spots.
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