This meeting of the Hampton City Council, held on September 15, 2022, included presentations on community programs, a consent agenda with multiple routine approvals, public hearings on a proposed multifamily development and federal housing reports, and public comment on youth programs and a land-use controversy. Key decisions included denial of a rezoning and use permit for Westview Landing LLC after concerns over compatibility with Langley Air Force Base and neighborhood impacts, and approval of housing fund reallocations.
Items 11 & 12 – Westview Landing LLC Rezoning and Use Permit (22-0181 & 22-0183)
Item 13 – Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) – 22-0244
Item 14 – CDBG Annual Action Plan Amendment – 22-0245
At VAFB.com. Hello everyone and welcome to Real Virginia, a show about Virginia agriculture and the people who produce the wonderful local products we enjoy. Brought to you by the Virginia Farm Bureau. They're the unsung heroes of the harvest season. The farm equipment mechanic. Tomato jam. It's delicious. And it's that time of year to be extra watchful for farm equipment on the road. Virginia. Between the blue beach. It's just a peak. Atlantic. Oh. Welcome back to Real Virginia, everyone. We're coming to you this week from Eastview Farm in Hanover County. It's harvest season, and that means every day is crucial for crop production. Burke Muller reports: a good mechanic is an essential partner for farmers. Many of us have changed a flat tire at some point or another, but when the tire weighs over 400 pounds, it's time to call in the professionals, like Freddie Cox. This tractor suffered a tire puncture in a cornfield. We are like a road service for the farmer. We go, we go wherever they have trouble on their tractor and bring them new tires or repair their tires. And um we do combines and we also do a lot of forestry tires, a lot of uh skidders that drag logs out in the um field. Cox's company is a farm bureau service agent and a Firestone Associate Dealer in Southwest Virginia. He says he first became interested in working on farm equipment at an early age through his local FFA instructor. I was um 16 years old. He said, How would you like to be a tire man? And I said, Well, I don't know. Come home and talk to my dad, and been doing it ever since, since about 95, 6, something like that, and um went to college, and I guess that was my calling to be a tire guy. Summer is his busiest time of the year when farmers are working on their fields hard in anticipation of the coming harvest. From Memorial Day to the middle of July, um, we're we're very, very busy at the peak, and then it picks up again really in the middle of August and through about October. Cox says December is a busy time too for tax purposes as farmers try to get repairs scheduled before the end of the calendar year. Mechanics like Cox are also in high demand just before and during harvest season, when a flat tire can lead to a devastating delay for crop farmers. Sometime a farmer during harvest season is so busy with other work, they'll hire a mechanic to do the work even though they could do it themselves. The way I normally charge folks is kind of I try to make a route. And and if and if you're lucky enough and I'm in area, it's way cheaper rate. And I have a I have an emergency rate that then you know if you need me real quick, it's more expensive and I come. But we we try not to work on Sundays, but if your harvest has been wet, you're down. We try to come out and get you going when you need it. Tires are not the only thing that can go wrong on farm equipment. Ronnie Sharp is working on the air conditioning for the cab in this tractor for Mariah Farm in Fawkier County. He starts by checking the monitor inside the cab for air pressure readings. We're getting up about 150 now. I'd like to see you run about 200. Sharp grew up on a farm in Louisa County and caught the mechanical bug at an early age. I wanted to be able to bring something back to the farm myself, and so I went to work for the dealership. They sent me to a two-year John Deere Ag Tech program in North Carolina, and I worked for the dealership for 15 years. Took a break and decided to start my own business because I was doing a little side work on the side and it grew and got to where I had to make a decision whether I was going to keep regular employment or start to do something on my own. Sharp has been working on farm equipment for over 20 years, and he says he'll help out with anything from a lawnmower to a combine. Not all jobs require working with power tools and large mechanical equipment. In fact, some jobs are closer to what a computer technician would do.