The Potomac Yard Metro station opening has been pushed back from spring to September next year .
After months of insisting that production was on schedule, WMATA announced today that the Potomac Yard Metro station’s opening will be pushed back five months.
One of the biggest points of contention in the stream restoration debate was that models, and not actual testing of the streams in question, were being considered in policy discussions. Next week, the city is moving to rectify that.
The city announced in a press release that a consultant will be performing soil collection, sampling, and analysis tests at Taylor Run, Strawberry Run and Lucky Run — three streams being considered for restoration work.
It’s taken Don Hayes 40 years to get to the top of the mountain, and the acting chief of the Alexandria Police Department wants to keep it that way.
It’s been a less than a month since Hayes took over after the sudden departure of Chief Michael Brown, who gave three weeks notice and pulled up stakes for the West Coast to handle family matters. Now with a national search underway for Brown’s replacement, Hayes has let City Manager Mark Jinks know that he wants the job.
Two years after historic floods wiped out swaths of the Holmes Run Trail, Alexandria is hosting a community meeting next week to provide an update on long-term repair efforts.
Parts of the trail in Dora Kelley Park have been inaccessible since flooding in 2018, but much of the rest of the trail has been in a state of disrepair since floods in 2019 undermined the structural integrity of two of the bridges and three stretches of trail.
Alexandria’s public swimming pools are open, but residents will need to arrive early if they want a chance to cool off.
City pools close at 3:45 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday — as opposed to 7 p.m. in previous years — and on a recent hot weekend residents were kept out and asked to sign waitlists due to capacity issues.
National search begins for new City Manager — “City Council has chosen the firm POLIHIRE to conduct a nationwide recruiting search. Members approved initial recruiting materials, including a recruitment brochure and timeline, during a closed executive session during the July 6 meeting.” [Patch]
Free food distribution this Saturday — “On Sat, July 17, @ALIVE4AlexVA will distribute food at 3 sites from 8:30-10:30am. Drive-up: Cora Kelly Elem School & NOVA-Alexandria (lot B-1). Walk-up: Ramsay Rec Center.” [Twitter]
Alexandria’s police, fire and sheriff’s offices are asking the City Council for a raise.
The city imposed a pay and hiring freeze during the pandemic, and after more than a year of operating under a City Emergency, all city and state employees got a 1% bonus and merit increases were restored with the passage of the fiscal year 2022 budget.
Turbulent week in Alexandria, with tropical storms battering the city and locals struggling with a dangerous heat wave.
It was a big week for city politics, with the City Council meeting in-person for the first time in over a year. At the meeting, the Council approved some development plans for Landmark Mall and cut funding away for school resource officers.
The city is looking to get a count-of and celebrate it’s 100+ year-old residents.
The City of Alexandria announced in a press release that, in partnership with the Successful Aging Committee, the city is celebrating National Centenarian Day on Sept. 28 with a look at the experiences and achievements of Alexandrians who have lived long enough to be designated for historic preservation by the Board of Architectural Review.
Alexandria will spend millions on emergency financial support programs, stormwater repair, childcare and dozens of other projects as part of its first portion of American Rescue Plan Act funding.
“Now the really hard work begins,” Mayor Justin Wilson said after Council’s unanimous passage of a plan Tuesday night. “I think this is an opportunity to make some transformational investments.”
Despite a last-minute appeal by the Alexandria School Board to slow down on eliminating the school resource officer program, City Council voted 5-1 on Tuesday in favor of reallocating nearly $800,000 toward mental health resources for school aged children.
Mayor Justin Wilson, who voted in the minority against eliminating SROs in the 4-3 Council vote in May, said that the issue was not handled correctly and that he is “dismayed” by the deteriorated relationship between Council and the Board.
