city government | ALXnow

City breaks ground on new broadband network

Published August 23, 2021 at 11:00AM

City leaders break ground on new fibre optic network (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

The city is starting work on a new municipal fiber optic network, but while the project should boost internet speeds at city facilities and schools, the big news for most local residents is higher internet speeds could be a few years and a few contract negotiations away.

Two coils of plastic tubing were wrapped up at the dig site this morning (Monday), where city officials stuck shovels into the ground. One will carry the new municipal network, but the other — added at minimal expense — will be empty for now but built to house a future network put into place by a private provider.

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ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published August 20, 2021 at 3:30PM | Updated August 20, 2021 at 11:17PM

Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne in the alley behind his house after flooding in Del Ray. (Courtesy photo)

What a week in Alexandria.

Public uproar over Sunday’s flooding spilled out throughout this week, which continued to be threatened by near-daily flash flood advisories from the National Weather Service.

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Stuck in quandary, Del Ray flooding victim seeks therapy

By James Cullum

Published August 18, 2021 at 3:30PM | Updated August 18, 2021 at 9:15PM

Danielle Reynolds has actually gotten therapy because of the summer flooding of her Del Ray basement. The family is stuck in a quandary, as moving away isn’t affordable, but neither is spending tens of thousands to continually redo their basement.

“I’ve sought therapy to deal with this, because you can’t move away,” Reynolds told ALXnow. “You can’t afford to buy another house in the area, you love where you live, your kids are friends with all the kids in the neighborhood. You just feel really stuck, and unfortunately there’s not a whole lot that I can do.”

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DSUPs are the basis of most development discussions, so what the hell are they?

By Vernon Miles

Published August 16, 2021 at 2:30PM

Development Special Use Permit (DSUP), via City of Alexandria

One of the most brought up terms in Alexandria development discussions is Development Special Use Permit — or DSUP — but despite being one of the building blocks for city planning is also one of the more confusing aspects of development.

Karl Moritz, Director of Planning and Zoning for the City of Alexandria, said a DSUP is a type of permit that comes up whenever a development could be seen as having a substantial impact on the neighborhood around it.

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City considering starting over on zoning ordinance guidelines

By Vernon Miles

Published August 13, 2021 at 1:30PM

Alexandria City Hall sign (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

As the city’s zoning ordinance nears the 30th anniversary of its last major overhaul, a new process starting this year will look at whether it’s worth continuing to edit and adjust the 1992 document or if the whole thing should be put to pasture with the city starting over fresh.

The zoning ordinance is the guiding document for the city’s approach to all-things-development, from parking requirements to environmental management.

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Alexandria Fire Department struggling with staffing shortage and forced overtime

By James Cullum

Published August 12, 2021 at 3:35PM

The Alexandria Fire Department is buckling under the strain of a staffing shortage and forced overtime, as firefighters, EMTs and medics say that their operations are not sustainable.

Alexandria Fire Chief Corey Smedley says that staffing shortages within the department, which underwent a restructuring in June, is resulting in an uptick in holdovers (forced overtime).

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Alexandria historians compiling stories of 2020 protests and pandemic

By Vernon Miles

Published August 12, 2021 at 2:30PM

COVID US Honor Quilt project sponsored by Del Ray Artisans, courtesy Office of Historic Alexandria, donated by Amy Gareis

The Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA) is working through a new project that will help educate on a period of the city’s history rife with confusion and upheaval: last year.

In an office where items considered artifacts are usually arrowheads or ship timbers, City Historian Daniel Lee said his office has started a different kind of collection.

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Alexandria poised to receive opioid settlement funding

By Vernon Miles

Published August 11, 2021 at 2:15PM

Photo courtesy Michael Longmire/Unsplash

Alexandria will likely be getting an influx of funding from a statewide opioids settlement, but how much and where exactly that funding will be going remains to be determined.

The City Council met last night for a special session — interrupting the brief summer break due to the need to have a decision the city should join the Virginia Opioid Abatement Fund and Settlement Allocation Memorandum.

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Alexandria opens up on details for new guaranteed basic income program

By Vernon Miles

Published August 9, 2021 at 3:40PM

Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

One of the most high-profile uses of American Rescue Plan funding in Alexandria is the city’s foray into providing a guaranteed basic income for some of the city’s lowest-income residents. At a meeting today (Monday), leadership of the program shared new information about how the program will work.

Kate Garvey, director of the department of community and human service, outlined the basics of the program in a Zoom meeting today.

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Former ACPS administrator Tammy Ignacio says experience matters in School Board bid

By James Cullum

Published August 6, 2021 at 1:05PM | Updated September 14, 2021 at 4:21PM

Former Alexandria City Public Schools administrator Tammy Ignacio says her 30-plus years of experience will help take up the slack since six of the nine members of the School Board aren’t seeking reelection.

“I am well aware of the complexities of running the school system,” Ignacio recently told ALXnow. “I’m excited for the work. I feel like I still have work to do. I think what I can bring to the table is expertise in living the life of an educator and as a parent in the school system.”

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published August 6, 2021 at 5:00AM

The Alexandria City High School marquee (staff photo by James Cullum)

Residents divided over plan to rename Lee Street — “For some residents, the news came as a welcome surprise and a step toward removing Confederate namesakes from the city’s streets and honoring figures or ideas they deem more worthy. For others, the petition represented an attempt to erase the city’s connection to commander of the Confederate Army Robert E. Lee, who grew up in Alexandria and has long been a focal point of the city’s history tourism.” [Alex Times]

Basic income pilot starts this fall in Alexandria — “Bolstered by nearly $60 million in federal pandemic relief money, the independent jurisdiction in Northern Virginia plans to begin sending $500 debit cards to 150 families each month for two years, starting sometime this fall… Alexandria is funding its new basic income initiative with $3 million in American Rescue Plan money.” (dcist)