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Hello!
After a busy summer, students are back in school and the Board of Supervisors is busier than ever. During our annual budget carryover, we directed unused funds and savings to be appropriated for public safety, specifically to combat the opioid epidemic, work on gang prevention, and maintain our parks among the other priorities I worked to set as Chairman of the Budget Committee. We have also sent a majority of the funds to sure up our reserve accounts-critical for maintaining our coveted AAA bond rating. I have included more information about that and other items I have been working on below, as well as information about upcoming events in Fairfax County and Lee District.
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Upcoming I-66 Multimodal Improvements
I spent a sunny September afternoon with Governor Terry McAuliffe, Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne and Chairman Sharon Bulova celebrating the beginning of a massive regional investment in multimodal transportation along the I-66 corridor. As chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, I worked with the Governor and Secretary Layne to push a modern smart transit plan to reduce our reliance on cars by offering convenient alternatives through bus rapid transit. Taking cars off the roads reduces harmful emissions and relieves congestion, a win-win solution for commuters.
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Transportation Grant for Lee and Mount Vernon
In October, the Board of Supervisors passed my motion to apply for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant from the US Department of Transportation. If the grant is awarded, the County will receive $37 million to be used for the Frontier Drive Extension and extending the Richmond Highway underpass on the Fairfax-Prince William county lines, among other projects. There will be a required 20% match of funding from the County, but has already been planned out and will not impact the General Fund.
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Fire Marshal Office at OMVHS
Congratulations to
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department on their new fire prevention inspectors office at Old Mount Vernon High School. I was proud to see part of the old schoolhouse converted into a public safety center, as bringing services closer to business and residents of South County is vital. Equally important, this increases County efficiency and speeds up reviews and inspections by cutting down on inspector commute times.
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In September, the County Executive presents the Board of Supervisors with a proposal on what to do with any revenue that has not yet been allocated, as revenue thankfully exceeded our spending. This year, we were within 1% of revenue targets, which means that our budget was very well managed. The Board voted on my motion to use the very small amount of unused funds to fuel efforts to combat the opioid epidemic and gangs while also putting the remaining balance in our reserve accounts, something critical to protecting our coveted AAA bond rating. We also set aside dollars to be used for parkland maintenance, an important priority for the many parks in Lee District.
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Road Paving Update
As VDOT continues to repave roads, residents can check the status of roads in their neighborhoods and on their commute using the Northern Virginia 2017 Paving Program. Anyone interested can check here for more information.
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Hayfield and Telegraph Road Updates
Since June of 2016 I have been in discussions with Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to address the traffic congestion on Telegraph Road mostly generated by Jeff Todd Way's opening and traffic coming from Fort Belvoir. A main source of backups come from the signal at Telegraph Road and Hayfield Road. You might be familiar with the South Kings Highway/South Van Dorn area where on a small budget, we were able to fix what one of the largest bottlenecks in Lee District was. We are trying to imitate that same idea by constructing a short term project at Hayfield Road and Telegraph Road where the traffic signal often causes northbound afternoon traffic back-ups well past Jeff Todd Way. While this will still take a few years to complete, I am going to be pushing for this fix as fast as possible. A traffic evaluation of this area, including signal timing, adjusting lane striping, and road reconfiguration options, were part of an evaluation recently done by FCDOT and VDOT. Simultaneous to this discussion, the Army Corp of Engineers/Humphreys Engineering Center contacted us requesting that a traffic signal be installed at the entrance of their facility. In the much longer term, the Fairfax County Transportation Plan (TPP) includes two projects for the widening of Telegraph Road that will be considered in the upcoming funding cycle. One project proposes to widen Telegraph Road from Hayfield Road to South Van Dorn Street from 2 to 4 lanes and the other project would widen Telegraph Road from Lead Road to Hayfield Road from 2 to 4 lanes. These projects are currently on a countywide unfunded project list, making the short term fix more viable.
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Home Occupations and Businesses
Article 10 of the Zoning Ordinance allows certain businesses and occupations to be conducted in a residential dwelling unit as a home occupation provided a number of limitations are met. If you notice multiple people entering and leaving a residence during the day or night, multiple vehicles parked on the driveway or in the street, or advertising signs in the yard or neighborhood, you may contact the Department of Code Compliance to file a complaint using our online form. For more information, visit the DCC website or see our Home Occupation Flyer, which is attached here.
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6121 Franconia Road
Alexandria, Virginia
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