The annual showdown between the City Council and School Board over funding could be exacerbated this year by the lingering fiscal impact of coronavirus.
At the tail end of a joint work session between the two bodies last week, City Manager Mark Jinks outlined the dire fiscal situation as the city heads into its budget season.
ACPS has acknowledged that community feedback has generally opposed putting affordable housing at a new school development.
In a recent joint Alexandria City Public Schools and City Council meeting, ACPS Director of Capital Programs Erika Gulick said that feedback from Alexandria residents indicated that locals were not comfortable with housing, including affordable housing, being co-located at some school developments.
It was a cold and news-filled week in Alexandria.
It all started with the report of two public safety incidents over the weekend — a serious car crash in Old Town and another shooting in the West End.
Beyer Introduces Legislation to Honor Slain Capitol Police Officer — “Officer Brian Sicknick was a hero who gave his life in service to his country. It is fitting that Congress honor his life, courage, and ideals. @RepBonnie and I just introduced bipartisan legislation to commemorate Officer Sicknick’s life and sacrifice.” [Twitter]
City Councilman John Taylor Chapman Running for Reelection — “John needs your help to appear on the ballot for the June 8 Democratic Primary for Alexandria City Council. Although we would love to have a traditional in-person event, we need to adapt for everyone’s safety. So, stop by the Beatley Library parking lot for a safe, socially distanced drive-thru Meet & Greet to sign John’s voter petition. We’ll be taking the following COVID precautions: masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Feel free to bring your own pen (though we’ll have some on hand).” [Facebook]
Alexandria is one step closer to seeing its stormwater utility fee double for residents, as City Council on Tuesday night accepted a report from city staff outlining its multi-million dollar plan to upgrade the city’s storm sewer capacity.
City Council approved receipt of the staff proposal 6-1, and it will be voted on in a public hearing on Feb. 20. Also approved was the formation of a nine-member Ad Hoc Stormwater Utility and Flood Mitigation Advisory Group. The plan includes doubling the $140 annual fee for residents to generate $15 million per year on $284 million worth of immediate and longterm projects, some of which aren’t slated to be completed for a decade.
Alexandria is on schedule to see the Potomac Yard Metro station open in spring 2022, despite letters sent to the city from the contractor that work has been impacted by COVID-19.
“The contractor does continue to submit letters stating that there have been some impacts due to COVID-19,” Daphne Kott, the city’s Design Division Chief, reported to City Council on Tuesday night. “They have not made any formal requests for any time extensions, but again these are letters with potential delays and we’re just trying to be transparent that these are occurring.”
Beyer Rails Against Congressional Republicans — “I’m really sick of whining about ‘canceling’ from rich and powerful Republicans who tried to cancel our democracy.” [Twitter]
Deadline Extended for Landlords to Apply for Relief Program — The deadline for landlords to apply for the Rent and Mortgage Relief Program, to cover overdue rent or mortgage payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been extended to March 1. Applications that have not yet been submitted can now include requests to cover rent payments through February 2021. Previously submitted applications are also eligible to include rent due in February through a contract amendment process.” [City of Alexandria]
Old Town residents have banded together against what they say is overdevelopment with the planned construction of the 750-unit, seven-story Heritage apartment buildings.
Made up of more than 80 neighbors, the Citizens Association of the Southwest Quadrant (CASQ) launched a website, sent emails to news organizations and created an online petition against the development, which they say will result in hundreds of additional vehicles on area streets, affect property values and destroy the historic charm of the area.
Though barely more than five minutes on a in a nearly six hour meeting, on Saturday the City Council finally did away with one of Alexandria’s more bizarre street names.
Toward the end of the meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to replace Swamp Fox Road with Hoffman Street, celebrating local developer Hubert Hoffman Jr., founder of the The Hoffman Company that developed much of the nearby area and for whom much of Eisenhower East is named.
It was a short, but news-filled week in Alexandria.
With Monday off in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we started the week running with a COVID-19 update. Cases of COVID-19 in the city now stand at 8,975 and fatalities are at 99. That’s an increase of three deaths and 165 cases since Tuesday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
(Updated 2:05 p.m.) Alexandrians have had to deal with a frustrating uptick in power outages this year, and Mayor Justin Wilson said locals are getting tired of it.
The city has faced several large-scale power outages in 2020 — including a particularly large one in October that hit 12,750 residents in Del Ray, North Ridge, Rosemont, Seminary Hill and Potomac Yard. Dominion representatives said the outage was a fluke, but city representatives pointed to the recent spate of outages as evidence to the contrary. In a letter sent yesterday, Wilson outlined local concerns and what Dominion can do to improve the situation.
