As promised four weeks ago, this is the fifth Saturday of November. Or at least, this podcast edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement is being produced on November 30. Every week I write over two dozen stories but only some of them are converted into audio versions both for this feed and for WTJU-FM. Most of those stories also end up being added to Information Charlottesville, the archival companion to this Substack feed. I’m Sean Tubbs, and I put this together for many reasons but a love of audio production is at the top of the list.

Here’s what’s in the edition for the final Saturday of this month:

* Albemarle Supervisors briefed on potential revenue gap in five-year financial work session (learn more)

* The UVA Foundation seeks firms to build 600 units of mixed-income housing at North Fork (learn more)

* Albemarle Planning Commission recommends denial of a “public garage” in Keene (learn more)

* Charlottesville’s Board of Architectural Review wants a different design for a proposed hotel for 218 W. Market Street (learn more)

* The director of the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority RSWA director briefs officials on some of the challenges facing the disposal industry including a dwindling amount of landfill space (learn more)

* Charlottesville using ranked-choice voting to select name for holiday tree (learn more)

First shout-out: Shout-outs on Town Crier Productions!

When I went back to journalism in 2020, I started a Patreon account as one way to figure out how to pay my bills. For years I had the idea of producing something that sounded like a public radio show, and I decided to offer “shout-outs” to those who were in the $25 a month tier.

That’s why you read or hear brief spots for WTJU, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance, Plant Virginia Natives, and other entities that opted for that tier. Over the years I’ve expanded this and those who pay more than $200 a year through Substack also get a shout-out.

In 2025, I plan to shake up the system a little as I try to bring in more revenue to help grow Town Crier Productions as a business. I don’t have anything to offer just yet, but I’m interested in hearing from businesses and organizations that might want to help support the work and reach a growing audience. So, drop me a line and let’s build the community together!

Second shout-out: Cvillepedia!

Cvillepedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this second shout-out today is to provide a little bit about what I know. I helped create the website back in the late 2000’s as a way of keeping track of all of the stories being written for the nonprofit news organization I worked for at the time.

Now Cvillepedia is hosted by the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library under the stewardship of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. There are over 6,500 articles and we need volunteers to help keep it up to date and to capture more of this community’s history, present, and future.

One of those articles is November 30 and there’s a list of some things that happened today:

* 1897 – Charlottesville City Council holds a special meeting to discuss supplementing the area's water supply and they agreed to sell $35,000 worth of bonds to finance improvements. [1]

* 1899 – The last Thanksgiving of the century was held on the final day of the month. [2]

* 1903 – A special meeting of the Charlottesville City Council takes place and City Engineer C.L. DeMott comments that the city is run by the street railway company. Mayor J. Samuel McCue said that might have been true of a different Council. [3]

* 1905 – President Theodore Roosevelt traveled through Charlottesville on his way to Pine Knot. [4]

* 1925 – Planning continues for the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with Charlottesville hoping to take the lead. [5]

* 2010 – Kick-off meeting for Belmont Bridge replacement at CitySpace. [6][7]

There’s so much more to had and so many sources to cite. If you’re interested in helping out, drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with someone at the ACHS.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe