At its Saturday meeting, the Board approved a set of budget guidelines intended to assist Donnellan in putting together her proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2014. Despite two years of rising real estate assessments and tax rates, the projected 1-2 percent increase in county property values this year is not expected to be enough to keep up with increased spending.
(The real estate tax accounts for just over 55 percent of all county revenue.)
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Friday afternoon for 1776 Wilson Boulevard, one of the county’s newest office buildings.
The $33.5 million office building includes four floors of office space, 30,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, and 231 garage parking spaces. With environmental features like a green vegetated roof, solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and water use reduction systems, developer Skanska USA is seeking LEED Platinum sustainability certification.
(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) Arlington police and firefighters are on the scene outside the Ballston Common Mall for a report of a man who fell about 30 feet from the Ballston public parking garage.
The incident happened on the Glebe Road side of the parking garage, near the intersection with Carlin Springs Road. The victim is described by police as a 40-year-old white male.
More than 1 million local residents are anticipated to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday, according to AAA. That’s a 1.3 percent increase over last year.
“The consistently solid travel numbers since the 2008 drop, despite high gas prices and a struggling economy, is impressive and reassuring,” said Martha Mitchell Meade, Manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “The ‘recovery’ rate of the number of holiday travelers has out-paced the economic recovery and, as Thanksgiving is primarily a family holiday, speaks to the importance of family in good times and bad.”
The shelter, which will occupy two of the building’s seven floors, will be open year-round and will replace the current emergency winter shelter, located about two blocks away. Like the winter shelter, it will be operated by the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network (A-SPAN).
“Arlington is making good on its declaration that in this county, every person is important” said County Manager Barbara Donnellan. “It’s not enough to merely provide beds in an inadequate emergency winter shelter during the coldest months of the year. It is not enough just to keep the homeless alive. We want to give them an opportunity to rebuild their lives.”
FCVFD Donating Ambulance to Sandy-Stricken Community — The Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department is donating its reserve ambulance to the community of Island Park, New York, which was hard-hit by Hurricane Sandy. Today, volunteer firefighters will be driving the 2002 Freightliner ambulance up to Island Park, where it will replace an ambulance lost by the Island Park Volunteer Fire Department during the storm.
County Kicks Off Rosslyn Planning Process — Arlington County has begun an effort to create a comprehensive new long-range plan for Rosslyn. Dubbed “Realize Rosslyn,” the plan will seek to “transform this 1960s car-centric area to one of our region’s great urban centers.” Through a civic engagement process, the county will create “an enhanced urban design framework,” refine and improve transportation options, recommend a new “building heights strategy” and develop “a more cohesive, functional parks and open space network.” [Arlington County]
