Ann Mallek,

Thank you for your continued commitment to the development of Western Park at Old Trail.

At the May 17 Crozet Community Advisory Committee (CCAC) meeting the request for Neighborhood Improvement Funding Initiative (NIFI) funds to revise the Master Plan for Western Park was excluded from consideration due to the committee’s misinformed belief, that County staff already had it on the capital program list for this year. After 6 months of community input, the request for funds to revise the Master Plan for Western Park received the second highest vote total in the major projects category, trailing the Crozet Square improvements by 1 vote. Excluding this project from consideration for NIFI funding due to inaccurate information was a mistake and should be corrected.

Western Park was approved by the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors (BOS) more than 10 years ago. Waiting 1 or 2 more years to see if any funds are available is unnecessary in light of the fact money is available today through the NIFI. Based on the following facts, we respectfully request funding for the revision of the Master Plan for Western Park be included in the NIFI grants.

The Board of Supervisors agreed by a vote of 4-1 that the NIFI funds would be allocated evenly among the 7 communities, insuring that each community (if they request funding) will receive their fair share, approximately $200,000, of the NIFI funds. The CCAC decided to request funds for only 1 project (Crozet Square improvements) purportedly to minimize the ability of the BOS to deny Crozet its fair share of the NIFI funds. The vote by the BOS invalidated the reasoning behind the CCAC’s single project request. Most importantly, we believe requesting funds for 1 project while excluding another project that essentially received equal support from the community is not in keeping with the spirit of the NIFI.

We humbly request a grant of $30,000 from the Neighborhood Improvement Funding Initiative to fund the Master Plan revision for Western Park. This represents 15% of the NIFI funds available to Crozet. 15% is a small ask for a project that received essentially the same level of support as the Crozet Square improvements.

We send this with the utmost respect and appreciation for all you do for our community.