Dan Hoffman: 0:09

Hello, and welcome to another edition of the Rouse Review. I am your city manager, Dan Hoffman, and with me is PIO, Sarah Fry. Hello, Sarah.

Sarah Frey: 0:17

Hello, Dan.

Dan Hoffman: 0:19

It is almost spring. It's spring. I'm tired of the cold. I'm tired of being teased.

Sarah Frey: 0:27

Well

Dan Hoffman: 0:28

But, it'll be here soon enough. I am hoping that we don't get another big wintry blast. I keep hearing that that's a possibility, but we're already mid March. So I am, uh, Hopeful. Hopeful. Especially with all the blossoming and pollen right now. Once

Sarah Frey: 0:45

the forsythia is out, you can't have snow, right?

Dan Hoffman: 0:48

Yeah, that's what I thought. Plus I was going to trim back my forsythia a whole lot, and I thought I had a few more weeks, and now I don't.

Sarah Frey: 0:54

No.

Dan Hoffman: 0:55

Anyways. Alright, but, uh, it might still, winter might still be lingering, but that doesn't mean we don't have council action tomorrow night. So let's go through it. We, we have a bunch of public hearings tomorrow night. Uh, some of it, you might be very interested in. I'm going to rattle through them real quick. Um, but we encourage folks come out, check out the meeting or watch it online. Email a comment, you know, that's also another Avenue. You can participate in these meetings and provide your feedback It doesn't you don't have to necessarily be there in person. But of course we do love to see folks Come and participate in the civic process And if you are there tomorrow night, you're gonna hear the following you're gonna get Like I said, a bunch of public hearings. These are typically second readings. Uh, ordinances have to go through to a first and second reading. Uh, part of the second reading is a public hearing. So we have one, two, three, four public hearings, uh, for public hearings. One of them is a tax exemption for new Eve ministries. This happens, I think we talked about this in the last podcast It's a request we get occasionally Council has not granted one in a long period of time Not to speak for council, but council's feeling in the past has been that you know We are landlocked 22 of our land is already off the tax rolls. That's about eight and a half million dollars worth of revenue for the city so We um Council has been hesitant, hesitant to grant new requests that it doesn't have to. So, uh, we will see what their decision is tomorrow night. Big one is Ward's Plaza. Ward's Plaza second reading is tomorrow night. I will say that the path to getting here has been one of the, it goes well beyond just year and a half to almost two years we've been spending working on this one. The desire to get Ward's Plaza redeveloped and it's priority, it's position as a council priority goes back probably a generation?

Sarah Frey: 3:12

At least.

Dan Hoffman: 3:13

I mean you've lived here all your life, Sarah.

Sarah Frey: 3:15

Yes.

Dan Hoffman: 3:15

And Ward's Plaza has been a running joke for

Sarah Frey: 3:19

My end. No. I remember shopping at Montgomery Wards.

Dan Hoffman: 3:23

Oh, wow.

Sarah Frey: 3:24

I'm dating myself, but.

Dan Hoffman: 3:26

Yes, Sarah's not that old, folks. But, but still, that was how long ago?

Sarah Frey: 3:31

Over

Dan Hoffman: 3:31

30

Sarah Frey: 3:31

years.

Dan Hoffman: 3:32

Over 30 years ago. So a generation, really, has passed with this site being You know, subject to a significant amount of neglect, um, some great businesses in there and, you know, and honestly, the EDA has done a great job working with those businesses door to door. Every single one of them got an offer of assistance. Some of them took us up on it. Um, some did have to find. you know, other homes. And that's, you know, part of the process. The, uh, the faux place, I think, moved down the street. Fast and the Furriest, uh, that's, uh, they're still in business. I think they just moved just outside the city into the county. Uh, Manilettis is supposedly moving downtown.

Sarah Frey: 4:19

Woohoo.

Dan Hoffman: 4:19

Yeah. We'll see.

Sarah Frey: 4:21

I'm excited for them and walking distance. Yeah.

Dan Hoffman: 4:23

Yeah. Although, you know, So we do have a lot of, well, a lot of Tex Mex places, uh, down in the walking mall, which is great because it's one of my favorite types of food. Um, but it has been a long, long journey and there's going to be change there. And finally, after a generation, we have a plan to bring a, not only a redevelopment awards plaza. Oh,

Sarah Frey: 4:48

thank goodness.

Dan Hoffman: 4:49

Which is when I got here, we had to do workshops to explain to people why the city just can't do it. pick a grocer and ask them to open up a store. Like we had, we did a workshop on how grocery stores pick their locations, the whole thing. So the fact that Ward's Plaza redevelopment has not only the redevelopment of a blighted area with for sale, Housing, affordable housing, um, a market increase in green space because there's nothing there now, uh, and a grocery store. It just is, it checks a lot of boxes and there's still much work to be done. There's a lot of money stuff to where there's a lot of different steps we have to take. So this is not the end of the road tomorrow night. It's really just the beginning of a new phase. Uh, but it is a significant milestone for everybody that's worked on this project, uh, and for all the residents who have been asking for something Good to happen at Wards Plaza for a generation. This is, this is a big deal. I have been kind of surprised that the amount of pushback we get from certain corners, uh, of the community. Um, but you know, the, I think what I always tell staff is there will always be something, even the, even the best projects, even, you know, providing much better transit service, uh, bringing a grocery store to Winchester, crosswalks, every, you know, Someone there will always be some folks that find problems and we're not always perfect But there will always be those folks. But what i'm looking forward to is When we break ground on that or, or this weekend, when we really start celebrating when ready, all of these great things that are happening in the city, I can't wait to see the people out there and how appreciative they are of it. So I'm going to get off my soapbox, Wards Plaza tomorrow night. If you want to come out, say your piece, you'll have three minutes. Uh, even if you don't like it, come on out, tell us you don't like it. That is your right. A couple other things, uh, a solar, uh, the, the CPACE program through the EDA. Good, good program for folks to use. Uh, and the first borrowing for our, uh, stormwater utility. That 15 million is, uh, we're borrowing against future stormwater utility revenue, and, uh, yeah, that's, you already see the work happening, right?

Sarah Frey: 7:24

Just look out at Cameron and Kent Street.

Dan Hoffman: 7:26

Absolutely. Uh, and then we're going to get into, after we get through public hearings, uh, we are We're bringing back the charging station thing, um, so that'll get discussed a little bit more at council, um, assuming it makes the agenda. I gotta make sure that that's, well, it's on the agenda. It's made the agenda, but you know, that's one council. I don't know if there's going to be enough support on council. I don't know if, I mean, we've answered all the questions. We, we can, this was at the direction of council. So, um, at this point, I think council just needs to, you know, Give it a yay or nay. Did they want to do it or not? Uh, but the most meaty thing, other than Wards Plaza. Wards Plaza, it's, I think, more of a, you know, Hey, we're at the finish line. The other thing we're going to get is a budget presentation. That's probably going to be the most meaty discussion, I think, of Tuesday. If you are paying attention to our budget, uh, superintendent will, um, will be there to present their budget. I think that's, they've been working on it. And, uh, they will have. I believe by tomorrow night, they're going to have their approved, uh, their board approved agenda. I think they have some meetings even had some meetings last week about it. So they're actively working on their budget for those of you. We're going to give a brief city budget update, but our budget at this point is fairly balanced. Uh, we haven't without any proposals to raise any of our fees. To fully fund some of the requests though, I think schools, um, you know, we are going to need to counsel to discuss the meals tax. So there they might be discussing that a little bit more. We started that discussion at the last meeting that will continue to be part of the discussion in order to, uh, fund the school's requests, but they, um, you know, they've, they've been hit by the same kind of pressures that we've been hit by insurance costs and, uh, and whatnot. So, uh, that'll be a fairly meaty discussion. I anticipate that this meeting might be, uh, not a short one, but hey, that's, uh, it's budget season. So that's what, that's what you sign up for on budget season.

Sarah Frey: 9:34

And if you want to follow along with the budget process, you can visit our website at winchesterva. gov and right there on the homepage, you'll see a button about the budget. Click it. It'll take you to everything you ever wanted to know about this process.

Dan Hoffman: 9:47

Absolutely. I encourage everybody, if you're going to get your budget information from somewhere, Get it directly from the source. Winchester va.gov, all the presentations, all the information line by line budgets are in the backups. All the committee presentations, you can watch the videos from those committee presentations. That is the best way to get your information. Do not get it from social media regardless. Please, no matter who it is, uh, get it unless it's from literally the city social media page. Don't get it from social media. Um, so yeah, or this podcast. Hey, we we've, uh, for the time it takes us to put this together, we reach more people that we reach more people in one podcast and I think show up to a city council meeting. in an entire year.

Sarah Frey: 10:34

At least.

Dan Hoffman: 10:35

At least with each podcast. So, uh, we thank you for, for listening, getting some information from us, keeping up to date. Uh, we try to keep it brief and I've been going on too long. So without any further ado, we're going to take a quick break and then Sarah's going to talk about what's coming up next. Okay. Welcome back. Sarah has a laundry list of things that are coming up in Winchester. Sarah, take it away.

Sarah Frey: 11:06

First of all, contrary to what Dan said earlier, it is finally spring. And that means That's what I

Dan Hoffman: 11:11

hear, but that's baloney.

Sarah Frey: 11:13

It's not baloney. And that means Outdoor sports are starting. I know I already froze my behind off at a soccer practice once this month And outdoor sports are hitting you're going to be spending time at the park, but it also means it's thunderstorm season

Dan Hoffman: 11:27

Oh, yeah

Sarah Frey: 11:27

So the city has installed a new weather alert station at jim barnett park that we want to make sure everybody knows about Because it will detect lightning strikes within eight miles of the park when it happens You're going to hear a siren that sounds for 15 seconds to tell you to go seek shelter and then You're gonna wait 30 minutes until the last lightning strike is detected, then you'll be alerted that there are three more short five second alerts to let you know it's all clear. There's also an app that you can follow along with with the countdown. They're on QR codes on signs all around the park.

Dan Hoffman: 11:57

That's very cool. Do we know what the siren sounds like? I'm thinking air raid siren, like World War II.

Sarah Frey: 12:04

When I first heard about it, that was also, um, My thought, but no, it's more just like a, a beep. And then it's also followed up with a thunderstorm has been detected. Please seek shelter.

Dan Hoffman: 12:16

Oh, okay. Well, that's, that's probably more effective than my, uh, air raids.

Sarah Frey: 12:20

Well, we also don't want people to think that, you know, world war three broke out and we're being invaded. That's

Dan Hoffman: 12:24

true. That's true. Yeah. So, uh, Yeah. Yeah. Don't be freaked out if you hear that at Jim Barnett Park.

Sarah Frey: 12:30

Or if you live in the neighborhood surrounding, you should be getting, you should have received a flyer about it. If you haven't, reach out to me, Sarah, with an H, dot Frye, F R E Y, at WinchesterVA. gov. Happy to talk to you about it. Alright, next up, WinReady's here!

Dan Hoffman: 12:46

I'm so excited.

Sarah Frey: 12:47

Today's the day.

Dan Hoffman: 12:49

Mm

Sarah Frey: 12:49

hmm. So, download the WinReady app in the app or Google Play Store today.

Dan Hoffman: 12:54

Once

Sarah Frey: 12:55

you request a ride, we'll pick you up when and where you want to be picked up and take you where you need to go within the city.

Dan Hoffman: 12:59

Yeah, I am super excited. I took it to work this morning. I'm going to take it home. Maybe I'll walk home. No, I'll probably take WinReady. I'm going to take it because it's still cold. It's not quite spring in my feeling. So I'm going to maybe take it home as well.

Sarah Frey: 13:15

Alright.

Dan Hoffman: 13:16

There you go.

Sarah Frey: 13:16

You know what, I think I'm going to take it somewhere on the other side of town for lunch today.

Dan Hoffman: 13:20

Oh, very nice.

Sarah Frey: 13:20

Yeah. Very nice.

Dan Hoffman: 13:22

Use it for an, you know, it's, it's free now. I do want to let folks know. It is free to use now. We will start charging fares again this July. That is in large part because we've been able to do fare free because of that federal money that came out during COVID and that was super nice. I loved being able to provide free Wintrant. Uh, but that money is gone. So we're going to go back to charging. But hey, this is a pretty valuable and, uh, substantive service. And, uh, it's going to be cheap. It's going to be so cheap. It's going to be so cheap. You know, we're, we're talking buck, buck and a half. It is. It's still a great value, um, and it's going to be so much easier to use. So definitely download it and check it out, folks.

Sarah Frey: 14:11

And if you have questions about when ready or need help learning how to book your ride or anything like that, we've got a bunch of community meetings lined up. So you can visit. winchesterva. gov slash win ready and find all the dates and locations of our upcoming workshops. So come out, join us, hang out. We'll show you how to download the app, how to use it. It's easy. We got you.

Dan Hoffman: 14:35

Awesome.

Sarah Frey: 14:35

All right. Next up. Our school speed zone cameras have officially been active for almost a full month now. Hopefully you've noticed. Well, hopefully you haven't noticed. Hopefully you haven't noticed. So they are at John Kerr Elementary School, Daniel Morgan Intermediate School, and Jameswood Middle School. If the camera catches you going more than 10 miles an hour over the posted speed limit on a school day, an hour before or an hour after school, you will receive a 100 citation. Yep.

Dan Hoffman: 15:06

Because you're speeding in a school zone.

Sarah Frey: 15:09

Which is not something anybody ever wants. And if a cop got you doing the same thing, it would be far more than 100. It would be points on your license and there would be a special extra fee because it's a school zone.

Dan Hoffman: 15:20

Exactly. So before you complain that we're somehow catching you through a illegitimate means, you're breaking the law. You're speeding in a school zone. You're not going to get a lot of sympathy. Now I will say, everybody and everybody is subject to this, including city employees. In city vehicles. In city vehicles. We even put in a policy in place, if a city employee gets one of these in a city vehicle, they have to pay the ticket. And you know, if it's too many, there can be some consequences. So it applies to everybody. Everybody needs to be cautious in school zones. And coming soon ish, I'm not actually sure when we're gonna, this'll go live, we're also doing the stop arm cameras. That little stop sign that pops out on the side of a bus that tells you not to speed around the bus. Oh, that's gonna be one too. And if you do that and you get a ticket, you zipped around a school bus and could have hit a child. So, again, do what you're supposed to do when you're on our roads. We get, we have, the city of Winchester has stepped up its traffic enforcement. It's actively working to make the pedestrian environment in the city safer. Uh, you see all the raised crosswalks. Don't speed around school buses. Don't speed around children. Yeah. It's just a thing. It's just, it's a thing that I think we should all be able to agree on. Yes. You shouldn't speed in the school zone. I don't care how you get caught.

Sarah Frey: 16:57

Also, if you think we're being too lax and saying 10 miles an hour over is too much, I just want you to know that's a Virginia state code thing. We couldn't make it lower if we wanted. Virginia says, if you want to give somebody a ticket with a camera, it 10 miles per hour over or more.

Dan Hoffman: 17:09

And we're only allowed three, three in school zones. So. So. It's not like they're going to be everywhere in the city.

Sarah Frey: 17:16

No, so that new sign on Middle Road, that just tells you how fast you're going to make you aware of the fact that the speed limit's lower now. It's not a camera. You're not going to get a ticket there. Only at the three schools.

Dan Hoffman: 17:26

But they do collect data. They do collect data. Okay.

Sarah Frey: 17:30

All right, next up. You want to save up to 40 percent on your stormwater utility fee? Do you want to help keep our city beautiful?

Dan Hoffman: 17:38

Yeah.

Sarah Frey: 17:39

Well, join us for pickup parties, a community cleanup event held the first Thursday of each month, starting in April. So our first pickup party will be Thursday, April 4th at Friendship Park. So join us at Friendship Park, April 4th, 530 PM. You will get your stormwater credit just by coming and signing up.

Dan Hoffman: 17:59

Absolutely. And I should point out, not every jurisdiction offers what are called easy credits for their stormwater utility. Of the thirty some odd in the state, and particularly there's about seven or eight that we really look to as examples, most of them do have a credit system. Some don't even have a credit system. It's just the rates, the rate. Uh, but the vast majority, in fact, there are only, there are very few that offer the easy credits, pickup parties, you sign the fertilizer pledge, rain barrels, rain barrels. There are many ways to get that fee down. Uh, so take advantage of it. I am, I am guilty. I have not yet filed for my credit. I've got a big stormwater cistern on my property that more things flow into. I do pickup parties. I, I, you know what? I'm going to, I need to start doing it. I felt kind of awkward about doing it cause I'm the city manager. No, he's getting a discount. No, no, no. I, but I'm eligible just like any other resident is. So I need to, I need to sign up.

Sarah Frey: 19:04

Also two fun facts about pickup parties. If you attend every pickup party that we offer, you can get up to 40 percent off because it's 5 percent for every party you attend.

Dan Hoffman: 19:13

Pretty big.

Sarah Frey: 19:13

That's a big deal. Yeah. Second, say you don't live in the city, but your mom does. You can go to the pickup parties and donate the credits that you earned to her. To somebody else that lives as a resident in the city. This, this one does only apply to residential properties. Disclaimer.

Dan Hoffman: 19:30

Yep. But if you are, there's been some confusion, uh, if you are a business in a residential property, you are eligible for the residential credits.

Sarah Frey: 19:40

So come on down to those pickup parties.

Dan Hoffman: 19:41

So, if you are a small business, you know, you're operating that hair salon out of a, out of a house that's on a property area. Yeah. Yeah. or whatnot. Go ahead. Just use the residential credits. That's, that's okay. Cause it's a residential property.

Sarah Frey: 19:57

And if you have questions about how any of this works, Winchester, va. gov slash stormwater.

Dan Hoffman: 20:02

If you want the factual information about the stormwater utility, go to the website or contact, um, the team over at public services. All the information you need to get in touch with them is on the website.

Sarah Frey: 20:14

There's even a super easy box that you can type a question into. It goes straight to them. They'll get back to you.

Dan Hoffman: 20:19

Awesome.

Sarah Frey: 20:20

There's so much going on. Please join us. It's, contrary to what Dan says, springtime and we're getting back out there.

Dan Hoffman: 20:26

Yeah, throw a, throw a hoodie on, you'll be fine. Is that it for the Sarah's Roundup here?

Sarah Frey: 20:31

That's it for my roundup.

Dan Hoffman: 20:32

Alrighty. Uh, well we're going to take a quick break and then, uh, Sarah's going to interview Heidi Hiller.

Sarah Frey: 20:39

Yes, we are talking Women's History Month, so we're talking to a woman owned small business owner.

Dan Hoffman: 20:46

Heidi's been on the show. Yes. She's, uh, you'll enjoy it, so stick around.

Sarah Frey: 21:00

All right, welcome back to the next segment of the Rouse Review. We are here on site at Murphy Beverage Company with, uh, it's very wonderful, uh, female owner Heidi Hiller. And because this is Women's History Month, we wanted to highlight a local woman owned small business. And we've already talked to Heidi in the past. So hopefully you guys remember talking to Heidi about becoming the sommelier and running a wine shop on the mall. So with no further ado, I'd like to introduce Heidi. Hi. All right. So Heidi. We've already talked about the business, but now let's talk about the real stuff, which is being a woman and owning a small business and not just that, but also being a mom and owning a small business. So,

Heidi Hiller: 21:49

well, I think, I think what's kind of exciting downtown is how many, like, other women business owners there are. I mean, just next door I have Lanita. I mean, and Christine at the bookstore. We have Holly and Bonnie at Brewworks. Um, actually there's so many more that I could, you know, not even mentioning. Um, so I think it's kind of nice cause like being another women business owner, you kind of step into this community of other business owners and specifically other women business owners. Um, and so it's kind of exciting to be, you know, a part of that and. a part of that downtown. So, um, as far as being a mom and a business owner, um, it is very tough. It's good, but it's tough. All I can say

Sarah Frey: 22:32

is

Heidi Hiller: 22:33

being

Sarah Frey: 22:33

a mom

Heidi Hiller: 22:33

and

Sarah Frey: 22:34

working is hard. I can't imagine being a mom and owning a business.

Heidi Hiller: 22:38

Yeah, it's both are tough. Um, and so, I mean, we're grateful that we have, you know, good childcare at Braddock Street Methodist. You'll see. Um, which, you know, Sarah's youngest is that too, and, um, and I've, you know, my husband is wonderful and, you know, he, I had something last night that I was involved in kind of after hours of the shop. So, you know, he, uh, you know, he was with the kids like all evening and everyone was happy and actually probably happier because he bought them stuffed animals. So

Sarah Frey: 23:06

if you come home with a stuffy and then you also get like a McDonald's happy meal out of the deal, like you're basically crushing the deck. They

Heidi Hiller: 23:12

had water streets. So even better. Yeah. Like, one of them had like French toast and macaroni and cheese for dinner. I was like, what? And I was like, sure, sure. So they're living out all of my

Sarah Frey: 23:24

dreams. Pretty much. I love it. I love it. So I've heard you say this before, and I'm going to repeat some of your words back at you, but I once heard you say that having Murphys is almost like having an additional kid. Yeah.

Heidi Hiller: 23:39

Would you say that's true? I would. Yeah, I would say that's true. Just because I feel like one of the things is like, you know, when you have a small business, you're kind of never really off, just like being a parent. And you're also usually thinking about your business or about things that need to get done or an email you need to answer all of the time, which is also very much like being a parent and that, you know, you, your kids are constantly needing something to be done or something needs to be done like administratively for them. Like I saw that my husband registered our five year old for some lessons. So, you know, so there's kind of, you know, there's always something that needs to get done. And so I think those are very, you know, there's a kind of parallels. And then I think it's also, you know, you have. So, you know, this thing or this person that you really love and you want the best for them. And it's like, well, how do I, you know, how do I get to that point? How do I, you know, enable that to happen, you know, enable success for a child or success for a business. So that's incredible.

Sarah Frey: 24:42

And also kudos to your husband, Chad, for actually taking the initiative to sign a kid up for swim lessons. So all the applause for Chad.

Heidi Hiller: 24:50

I know. Seriously. I was like, Oh good. I, I, I was, Forgotten that that needed to happen. So I personally missed the sign up deadline for swim lessons. So he's got me beat. Apparently we're on the waiting

Sarah Frey: 25:00

list. So that makes me feel better. Well, Heidi. We're in your shop. So also, let's do a little bit of a plug. Walk me through your shop and tell me about some of your favorite things and what makes Murphy's feel like home to you.

Heidi Hiller: 25:15

Sure. Well, I think, you know, kind of, uh, piggybacking off of Women's History Month is that, um, the week before last, actually no, last week, we hosted a tasting that was just four wines made by women. And so I still have some of those in stock. And I actually have quite a bit of wine made by women. And, um, yeah. You know, I think that's some of the, the fun ones to kind of talk about. Um, there's, um, two of the ones that, uh, we had at the tasting last week. One is from Maryland, of all places, and another from Pennsylvania. I normally don't carry wine from the mid Atlantic unless it's from Virginia or New York State. Um, but both of these were actually like these great examples of like really well made wine. And I just thought it was so cool that, you know, we have these women, you know, just kind of in our. geographic area, you know, doing these really interesting things with some of those grapes you don't see. Um, and so that's, you know, I think, you know, that's one thing I definitely want to highlight is like, you know, we have, I've, a lot of women made wine, um, at the shop and, and it's kind of fun to be able to kind of feature that. Um, and then also, you know, I'm kind of starting to think ahead to Apple Blossom. It's so close, something like 30 couple odd days. Well, that's just the beginning of it. Right. Not like Apple Blossom Saturday yet. We're like 35 days out. Okay. I was just thinking,'cause I, I'm running the 10 K and I'm like, oh, that's, I, I have some miles to run man, you do do it all slowly. Slowly. Uh, but yeah, so I'm thinking our head to Apple Blossom, like, but people might wanna bring to parties like, um, has like gifts. Um, we do keg orders, um, by special order. If you need a keg for a party. Um, so, yes, I'm already kind of thinking about Apple Blossom and, you know, what, what needs to kind of happen in the next couple weeks to get to get people ready for that. So, oh, the bloom.

Sarah Frey: 27:11

Well, Heidi, thank you so much for talking with us again. It's always a pleasure to have you on the podcast and thanks for being such a great example of a woman owned small business in Winchester. Oh, thank you. We'll be back shortly with the next part of the Rouse Review.

Dan Hoffman: 27:37

All right. Thanks for joining us on the Rouse Review. Next time we're going to be talking about when ready and the new loop route, uh, and Apple blossom. It's going to be about that, that, that time of year. So, uh, make sure you stay tuned and until then we'll see you around city hall.