The Lynchburg City Council is returning from a seven-week summer break with a work session and general meeting on Tuesday.
The work session, planned for 4 p.m. in city hall’s second-floor training room, has two long-awaited discussions on its agenda: an update on the 2026 fiscal year budget and an overview of proposed amendments to the council’s rules of procedure.
Donna Witt, the city’s chief financial officer, will present an update on how the city will pay for services that were planned to be cut in order to balance the 2026 fiscal year budget, but were saved from the chopping block at the final reading of the budget on June 30. The saved programs include the downtown branch of the library, the Templeton Senior Center and the Jackson Heights Art Studio.
According to the agenda packet, Witt will share her plan for drumming up the $538,118 needed to cover the saved programs: counting on other departments to save money throughout the year.
“Historically, each year a savings is realized due to departments being fiscally responsible in spending their budgets,” the agenda packet states. Witt’s plan is to allocate those savings to the restored services.
The work session will also include a discussion of the city council’s rules of procedure, which are the guidelines that govern the formal processes of council operations.
The topic was previously set for review at the June 24 and July 8 work sessions but was delayed for other agenda items. The proposed rule changes come on the heels of several city council meetings interrupted by arguments between council members and interjections from the audience.
There will be two presentations regarding proposed amendments to the rules of procedure: one led by City Attorney Matthew Freedman and Clerk of Council Alicia Finney, and one led by Councilmember Jacqueline Timmer.
Freedman and Finney’s proposed changes were collected from input from both city staff and council members.
Some of their changes address citizens’ participation in council meetings, such as preventing attendees from approaching the dais and allowing city residents to address the council before nonresidents during public comment and in public hearings.
Other proposed amendments address voting procedure for council members. All motions require a majority vote to pass “unless otherwise noted,” according to the current rules of procedure. Under the proposed amendments, three kinds of council decisions that currently require a two-thirds vote to pass could be changed to require just a majority to pass.
Timmer’s presentation suggests adding entirely new sections to the rules of procedure, such as a section to govern censure proceedings and a section to provide guidelines for resigning from the council. Timmer’s other proposed changes include:
- Introducing new wording that states a council member “who holds the floor during council discussions shall hold the floor as long as desired unless limited by a time limit approved by a super-majority of council prior to the debate or articulated within these rules”;
- Introducing new wording that would guarantee council members the right to respond “if during debate or discussion a councilmember lodges an allegation of impropriety or improper conduct against another member of council”;
- Striking out a current rule that council members “shall not engage in electronic communications amongst themselves regarding a motion that is on the floor for debate.”
After the rules of procedure discussion, city staff will ask for formal guidance regarding what proposed changes are to be considered for approval at future meetings.
Following the work session, a city council meeting will be held in the council chamber at 7 p.m.
The meeting will include a public hearing for what the agenda packet labels the “largest capital project in Lynchburg’s history.” The $104 million undertaking, known as the Blackwater CSO Tunnel project, is set to overhaul the city’s water system to reduce the frequency and volume of combined sewer and stormwater overflows.
The project involves the construction of a 12-foot-wide, mile-long underground tunnel under Blackwater Creek. It will prevent overflows by acting as a 4-million-gallon storage tank that can capture excess sewage and stormwater during significant rainfalls.
Construction of the tunnel started in July 2024 and is expected to finish by summer 2027. On Tuesday, following a public hearing, city council is being asked to adopt a resolution to authorize next steps for the project. Those include entering into a funding agreement with the Virginia Resources Authority and issuing sewer revenue bonds.
Specifics of the project’s funding will also be discussed at the city’s finance committee meeting, scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday.
All agenda documents can be found on the city’s website in advance of Tuesday’s three meetings.
