The Alexandria City Council has pushed a decision to add Virginia Tech’s initials to the Potomac Yard Metro Station.
Virginia Tech’s $1 billion Innovation Campus is promised to bring a massive redevelopment to the area, although no buildings have yet to be constructed and no students are on site. Consequently, some members of council were concerned that the school’s request to add the name to the Metro station would not meet Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority naming guidelines.
Updated 5:40 p.m. — According to Anton Murray, spokesman for Alexandria Libraries:
Due to an incidence of COVID-19 with a staff member at the Beatley Library, the Library has been closed for 1-3 days for deep cleaning. The nature of that staff member’s role in the library requires little to no significant direct contact with the public or other staff. Based on investigation to date (including contact tracing) by the Health Department no quarantine recommendations were needed for other staff or the public.
Despite the odds, Alexandria’s Workforce Development Center’s Youth Employment Services has finished up another year with higher-than-usual participation.
It was a tough summer to run a workforce development program. Alongside the global pandemic, Alexandria faced record-high unemployment and a slow recovery for local businesses. But center Director Daniel Mekibib said the program put together options for in-person employment and virtual participation in job training.
(Updated 10:50 p.m.) When the City of Alexandria builds new schools, a new ordinance change (Item 9) could mean they’re a little larger than they used to be.
A new ordinance proposed for the Tuesday (September 1) Planning Commission meeting would “streamline and modernize the zoning regulations,” according to a staff report.
The city is proposing a series of changes that could cut through the red tape for some local businesses needing to adapt quickly to survive the slow recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
At the upcoming Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday, September 1, the Department of Planning & Zoning will propose changes to reduce the number of Special Use Permit (SUP) approvals that require public hearings or administrative reviews. The goal is to increase the the number of commercial uses that could in a shorter time frame.
The city is requesting a $1.73 million in funding from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to finance a wide series of programs aimed at improving the city’s affordable housing.
A release from the City of Alexandria said the funding would go to improvements under the Rental Accessibility Modification Program (RAMP). RAMP provides accessibility modifications to rental units occupied by low and moderate income tenants at no cost to the tenant or landlord.
Alexandria commemorated the 100 year anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment on Tuesday with a socially distant ceremony outside the Kate Waller Barrett Library.
Mayor Justin Wilson read a city proclamation that recounted the dozens of suffragists who were imprisoned, tortured and ultimately released from the Occoquan Workhouse after their case was thrown out in the federal courthouse in Alexandria.
Alexandria is hosting an online open house this Wednesday to try to connect local families with an affordable range of child care options.
A virtual open house is scheduled for August 19 from 7-8:30 p.m. on Zoom. Participants can register online to receive a link to the Zoom call.
The Alexandria City Council will receive a staff proposal next month on a community police review board, and Councilman Mo Seifeldein says he wants the body to have independent investigative authority and subpoena power in investigating police misconduct.
“Don’t abuse your power is what it comes down to,” Seifeldein said in a virtual meeting on Tuesday night. “The board could receive complaints that deal with abuse of power, serious misconduct… unnecessary force, unreasonable excessive use of force, use of racial, ethnic or sexual language/ remarks or just harassment, generally.”
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was named Joe Biden’s vice presidential candidate on Tuesday, and some in the deeply blue Alexandria are celebrating.
Alexandria Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) said Harris is a powerful and historic choice.
(Updated 4:15 p.m.) After a week with two flood warnings, the city is reminding residents that a program is available for the city to cover half the costs for sewer backflow prevention — a source of much of the city’s flooding problems.
The Backflow Preventer (BFP) Assistance Program reimburses homeowners for up to 50% of the costs of installing a BFP device by a licensed plumbing contractor for up to a maximum of $2,000.
