Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Streetcar versus housing and food assistance funding, other issues come up at Tuesday night's public hearing.
Affordable housing. Programs for people with intellectual disabilities. County child care regulations. Traffic calming. Invasive plants. Senior center parking fees. Between what's in Arlington County's proposed $1.1 billion budget and what's not, residents had a lot to talk about Tuesday night. A few hundred people showed up and more than 100 of them spoke at a public hearing — delivering well over three hours of testimony before the Arlington County Board. At times, there was an undercurrent of frustration, perhaps best summed up well past 10 p.m. by frequent board critic Robert Atikins. Atkins cited needs — some with relatively minor costs associated with them — for child care, nurses, housing and food assistance and said any one of them…
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Arlington County Board will answer questions, take comments from both sides regarding the proposed Columbia Pike streetcar system from 6:46 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Kenmore Middle School.
Arlington County expects "hundreds" of people to show up to voice their support or opposition to the planned streetcar for Columbia Pike during a town hall on Wednesday, according to a county spokeswoman. The Arlington County Board will answer questions about the controversial project following a brief presentation at Kenmore Middle School, 200 S. Carlin Springs Road. "They'll answer any question related to the streetcar," spokeswoman Mary Curtius told Patch. "Anybody's free to ask a question." The county will set up space in the hallway outside of the school's auditorium for groups that want to set up displays or hand out literature, Curtius said. The county is asking attendees be succinct and courteous so that as many people can ask …
Monday, March 25, 2013
Compensation — including salaries, benefits and retirement — are among major costs factored into Arlington County's proposed $1.1 billion budget.
Good workers cost money. It's a fact of life that most successful organizations in Northern Virginia have accepted, if not embraced. In Arlington County, compensation is projected to account for about 56 percent of county operating expenses for the next spending cycle, which begins July 1. Compensation is more than take-home pay; it also includes tax dollars the county spends on retirement, health insurance, worker's compensation and other areas — including about $2.5 million on commuting and transportation costs. But salaries account for the lion's share of compensation. As the Arlington County Board hashes out its $1.1 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, compensation is one of the priority areas officials have under the …
Friday, March 22, 2013
Arlington Public Schools has requested about $3 million in additional revenue.
Arlington Public Schools has formally requested an extra half-cent of tax revenue from Arlington County, about $3 million in potential revenue, School Board Chairwoman Emma Violand-Sanchez said Thursday. The school board is in the process of reviewing and refining a $520.4 million spending plan proposed by Superintendent Pat Murphy that consolidates several programs but maintains class sizes. Murphy has proposed a series of cuts to address an anticipated budget gap of up to $25 million. And while the school system will add about 30 positions overall, about 62 would be eliminated — including teachers for gifted services at all three high schools and about 14 jobs in the teen parenting program. "We are concerned about the extent the budget …
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
County, Navy will identify items in Arlington's possession that can be donated to display in the room.
Arlington will contribute $50,000 toward the creation of a 9/11 tribute room aboard the soon-to-be commissioned Navy vessel bearing this county's name. The county board approved the contribution Tuesday. The donation accounts for 20 percent of the project's total cost. The USS Arlington is scheduled to arrive at Naval Station Norfolk on Friday. A commissioning ceremony will be held just over two weeks later on Saturday, April 6. "This is a big week for the USS Arlington and for our community," Arlington County Board Chairman Walter Tejada said in a statement. "It is fitting that the Board has approved funding for the ship’s Tribute Room just days before the USS Arlington sails into Norfolk, where it will be welcomed by some of the same …
Arlington County Board OKs $2.5 million for street and park improvements.
The Arlington County Board on Tuesday approved more than $2.5 million to fund projects in five different neighborhoods. The projects successfully maneuvered the county's Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee. They will be funded by part of a $28.3 million bond approved by voters last year. The projects are: The Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee recommends projects for funding to the county board twice a year. "It is truly an example of community planning done from the ground up," Arlington County Board Chairman Walter Tejada said in a statement.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The first so-called Super Stop opened this week at Walter Reed and Columbia Pike.
The $1 million price tag on the first so-called Super Stop along the Columbia Pike corridor gave Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey an opening Tuesday to voice opposition to the planned streetcar. The Super Stop, which opened this month at Walter Reed and Columbia Pike, is designed to hold 10 to 15 passengers and allow two buses to stop in front of it at a time. Real-time ART and Metrobus information is available and the county hopes to install an exit fare machine in the future. Garvey wasn't impressed. "It is pretty, but I was struck by the fact that if it's pouring rain, I'm going to get wet," she said. "It's not much of a shelter." County officials on Tuesday emphasized the various factors that fed into that price and pledged …
Monday, March 18, 2013
County will establish a neighborhood advisory council and designate a homeless service center liaison in an effort to minimize its impact on the surrounding community.
A year-round homeless service center on two floors of the seven-story office building at 2020 14th St. N. in the Courthouse community has received final approval from the Arlington County Board. For advocates of ending homelessness, it was a victory a long time in the making. It advances Arlington's goal of providing the services needed to move more of the area's homeless into permanent housing. And it concentrates those services in a single place that's open all year as opposed to the current emergency winter shelter, about a block away, that's open only during the winter. For some residents of Woodbury Heights, the condominium building next door to the planned center, it was the latest move by Arlington County to balance the good of the …
Friday, March 15, 2013
More than 400 residents of the Eclipse condominium have signed letters asking the Arlington County Board to speed up the reopening of the popular grocery store.
Residents of The Eclipse condominiums located at 3600 S. Glebe Road are planning to submit 400 signed letters to the Arlington County Board on Saturday urging the swift reopening of the Harris Teeter located in the building. The grocery store has been closed since May 2012 following an interior flood caused by a sewage backup. Representatives from Harris Teeter and Arlington County have told building residents that the two parties are working to reopen the popular store. It has undergone an extensive clean-up process. A Harris Teeter representative told Patch in August 2012 that the store would reopen, but offered no firm date. A Harris Teeter spokeswoman told ARLnow in January the store will not reopen until the company can be assured …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Arlington Police Chief Doug Scott: Residents, civic associations 'worried' about potential cuts.
Arlington's community policing roster could grow shorter if the county board accepts certain reductions in the proposed $1.1 billion budget currently being hashed out. Doing so would mean fewer officers available to attend community, civic and business events, fewer available to give safety presentations and fewer to focus on quality of life issues of a single community, according to a departmental email. Police Chief Doug Scott told Patch on Tuesday that he's begun to hear from residents and civic associations about the matter. "So far, they're worried about it," Scott said. "They realize that in many ways they are connected to the police department through our district teams. And they're apprehensive of changing that model." Community …
Janet
9:19 pm on Thursday, March 28, 2013
Don't Fairfax Arlington? LOL! Arlington's County Manager, Economic Development Director, and CPHD Director all live in Fairfax County! more ›