A new city manager, potential new faces on City Council and a new major public works project are changes to be expected in Lynchburg during the next 12 months.
The city will also start a pilot project to weigh the effect of paid parking on downtown businesses and residents. Ward elections Lynchburg residents will have the chance to determine their next ward representatives in City Council elections in May.
Mayor Michael Gillette, who represents Ward I, was elected to City Council in 2004 and was first appointed mayor in 2012. Gillette declined to comment as to whether he is seeking reelection.
Ward II representative Vice Mayor Ceasor Johnson was first elected to City Council in 2004 and served as vice mayor since 2010.
“I will be on the ballot in May,” Johnson said.
Ward III representative Jeff Helgeson, who was first elected to council in 2004, could not be reached for comment.
Ward IV representative Turner Perrow is expected to run again, though no official announcement has been made. Perrow was elected to City Council in 2008.
Elections for at-large seats on City Council, currently held by representatives Joan Foster, Treney Tweedy and Randy Nelson, will be held in 2018.
Search for new city manager
Citing a desire to seek new challenges, City Manager Kimball Payne announced in December that he will retire effective June 30. Payne has served as city manager for nearly 15 years.
Mayor Michael Gillette said he has spoken to council members to gather input on the process, but the search for Payne’s replacement has not yet begun. The subject is on the agenda for council’s meeting on Tuesday evening.
Midtown Connector
The $18 million Midtown Connector project is winding down after passing a targeted completion date of November 2014. As a “corridor of confidence,” the project aims to provide expedited travel to the city’s midtown area and Lynchburg General Hospital. Features of the Midtown Connector include widened roads, new lighting and sidewalks and a new roundabout at the intersection of Langhorne Road and Park Avenue.
According to project manager J.P. Morris, a portion of Kemper Street remains to be completed and reconstruction is underway on 16th Street; final pavement will not go down in those areas until asphalt plants reopen in the spring.
“Rainfall did impact our progress in those areas,” Morris said.
A punchlist of items of “cleanup items” will be performed this winter and Morris anticipates the project to be completed this spring.
Downtown utility and streetscape project
As one public works project winds down another is set to begin. The city’s central business district will be the focus of a multiphase streetscape and utility improvements project in the coming year.
The entire utility and streetscape project will encompass the area of Commerce and Court streets and 5th and 13th streets and is anticipated to last several years.
The first phase of the project is set to begin in March in the area between Church and Main streets and 8th and 5th streets. Aging pipes in the area will be replaced with lined ductile iron pipes. Streetscape enhancements may include brick sidewalks, bicycle racks and outdoor seating. The anticipated completion date for the first-phase of the project is 2017.
One objective of the overall utility and streetscape project is the conversion of Main and Church streets to two-way traffic .
The logistics of how to do so is being determined at this time, project spokeswoman Heather Kennedy of Cella Molnar & Associates Inc. said in an email.
"We are working with an engineering firm to solve the challenge of loading and unloading on Main Street as it pertains to the conversion to two way," Kennedy said. "Upon completion of the study we will move forward accordingly."
Zoning ordinance
The Lynchburg Zoning Ordinance is getting its first major rewrite in more than 30 years. Meetings were held in 2015 to receive feedback from the public and the draft ordinance went to a public hearing before Lynchburg City Council in November.
One change proposed in the draft ordinance is a reduced occupancy limit for the residential R-1 and R-2 districts, which would limit occupancy to no more than three unrelated people per lot from the current ordinance that allows no more than three unrelated people per dwelling unit.
City Council has discussed and made tweaks to the draft ordinance during several work sessions but has yet to adopt the document.
“They need to take as much as time as they need to be comfortable with it and meet the needs of the city,” said City Planner Tom Martin.
Pilot paid parking program
In a bid to increase parking turnover in Lynchburg’s enlivened downtown, a pilot paid parking program is set to begin Feb. 1. Two pay stations will be installed on the 1200 block of Main Street and two will be installed at the Lynchburg Community Market parking lot. Parking rates will be set at $1 an hour for the first three hours of parking and $2 per hour for subsequent hours.
“We will get machines in this month and start educating people on how they work,” Parking Manager Dave Malewitz said in an email.
