Southside VA News

City of Danville issued the following announcement on Jan. 7

The City Council on Tuesday night voted to reappoint Sherman Saunders, Lee Vogler and Vice Mayor Dr. Gary Miller to the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority.

Miller serves as an alternate member.

The general purpose of the authority is to enhance the economic base of the city and the county by developing, owning, and operating facilities and parcels on a cooperative basis. 

In other matters, the City Council voted to:

• Rezone 125 Jefferson Ave. from neighborhood commercial to multifamily residential.
• Vacate a portion of an alley adjacent to 467 West Main St.
• Vacate a right of way adjacent to 200 Old U.S. 29 Highway.

The City Council also held first readings on budget amendments to accept various  grants. A first reading is an introductory step required by City Code. City Council will these matters at its next meeting.

One grant will provide federal money to help the City of Danville get the lead out of some older houses. The city is getting a $1.2 million dollar Lead Hazard Reduction Grant from Housing and Urban Development. It will help address lead hazards in homes built before lead was outlawed in 1978. 

Community Development Director Kenny Gillie told Danville City Council Tuesday that crews will be able to assess up to 100 homes for lead hazards, and remediate 83 of them.

“We’ve been applying for this grant for a number of years,” Gillie said.  “Now that we’ve been successful, it’s anticipated we will be able to get future funding.”

Gillie says they’re modeling their program on one that’s been successfully adopted in Roanoke.  “We believe there are more than a hundred houses in the city that suffer from lead,” Gillie explained to City Council.

Gillie says crews will be go beyond focusing on lead paint. “It can be removal, it can be painting over. It’s both interior and exterior,” Gillie added. 

The City has also secured a Healthy Homes Grant of $400,000 that will help with the lead mitigation effort. 

The City will match the two grants with $145,000 dollars in unspent HUD Community Development Block Grant funds.

A third grant coming to the City will pay for two major road paving projects. The Commonwealth Transportation Board and the state Department of Transportation are sending nearly $1.5 million to Danville through to resurface the westbound lanes of South Boston Road from the city limits to Airport Drive and the eastbound lanes of Riverside Drive on either side of the intersection with Westover Drive.

Original source can be found here.