CRN: Brian Wheeler of Charlottesville Tomorrow on the work of keeping tabs on local government, and Wendell Wood in studio to discuss the NGIC land deal

Brian Wheeler of Charlottesville Tomorrow joins Coy Barefoot each week on WINA’s Charlottesville–Right Now to discuss growth and development issues. On this show, Coy and Brian start with a discussion about the importance of public engagement in local government decision-making.  Coy highlights the in-depth report by Charlottesville Tomorrow summarizing the land deal related to the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) located on Route 29 north of Charlottesville.  That report includes the first detailed map of the land that developer Wendell Wood requested that Albemarle move within the County’s growth area to support his private transaction to sell land to the federal government for NGIC’s expansion.Coy and Brian are joined in studio by developer Wendell Wood who explains the background of his negotiations with the federal government related to NGIC.  Wood described how, in 2006, the federal government had only half of the about $14 million they had promised him for 47 acres adjacent to the existing NGIC facility.  Wood said he felt it was his civic duty to help NGIC expand and remain in Charlottesville, but that he didn’t think he should totally subsidize the transaction.  Thus he requested the County support him by passing a resolution of intent to allow a future land swap moving 30 acres of other rural land into the growth area so he could recoup some of the $7 million that the U.S. Congress did not appropriate for the land buy.  He highlighted the 800-100 jobs an expanded NGIC will bring to Charlottesville as the Department of Defense relocates personnel from other facilities near Washington, D.C.

 

 Standard Podcast [14:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1292)