County Board | ARLnow.com

County Board OKs Defense Dept. Plan to Install Explosion Detection Equipment

Published July 20, 2016 at 3:50PM

The board’s members voted unanimously last night to approve a license agreement between the County Board and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to install the equipment on county property.

According to a county staff report, the nature and location of the equipment will be kept secret and exempt from Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, a fact that worried ACLU of Virginia’s executive director, Claire Guthrie Gastañaga. Speaking before the board, Gastañaga argued that it was “important that the capabilities of the equipment be public.”

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County Board Votes to Rebuild Fire Station 8 at Current Location

By Adrian Cruz

Published July 20, 2016 at 1:20PM

The 4-1 decision was made as part of the Board’s deliberation on the adoption of the county’s proposed Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which includes the replacement of Fire Station 8.

The vote, based on a recommendation from the board’s Fire Station No. 8 Task Force, marks the likely end to a long and contentious saga over the station’s future.

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Voters to Decide on Four Bond Issues This Fall

By ARLnow.com

Published July 20, 2016 at 10:50AM

As part of its latest Capital Improvement Plan, the Arlington County Board last night approved a new slate of bond referenda that will appear on the ballot this fall.

The county has proposed four bonds for voters to consider. In total the bonds add up to some $315.8 million.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 20, 2016 at 8:40AM

Arts Truck, Grants Approved — The Arlington County Board last night approved $215,810 in grants to local arts organizations and nearly $70,000 for the purchase and deployment of a new mobile art studio. [Arlington County]

Snow Plowing Policy Change — Starting this winter, Arlington County will plow residential streets at the outset of snowstorms, reversing its previous policy of only focusing on major arterial routes before moving on to residential streets after the snow stops and major roads are clear. [InsideNova]

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County to Open Temporary Library in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Published July 19, 2016 at 11:30AM | Updated July 19, 2016 at 12:54PM

The Arlington County Board on Saturday approved an agreement with the Crystal City Shops that will allow the county to open the temporary library in a vacant retail space rent-free for at least nine months.

The county will pay nearly $1,900 per month for maintenance and utilities and incur one-time costs of $60,000 for a connection to the county’s fiber optic network and about $113,000 to renovate the space. The funds have already been allocated in the county’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

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County Board Approves New Transit Plan, With an Asterisk

By ARLnow.com

Published July 18, 2016 at 5:00PM | Updated July 18, 2016 at 6:44PM

There’s an asterisk to the Transit Development Plan’s unanimous approval and the subsequent cheery press release, however. Responding to criticism from residents and the county’s own Transportation Commission, the Board directed County Manager Mark Schwartz to report back next year on possible improvements to the post-streetcar transit plan for Columbia Pike.

The Board’s guidance to Schwartz and county staff:

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 18, 2016 at 8:30AM | Updated July 18, 2016 at 8:58AM

County Looking at Fire Station Alternatives — The Arlington County Board on Saturday approved an agreement with Arlington Public Schools that would allow it to build a temporary fire station on the grounds of the new H-B Woodlawn school in Rosslyn. However, in response to parent concerns the Board directed county staff to look into potential alternative locations. [InsideNova, Arlington County]

Couple: Snow Melter Fumes Contaminated Our House — A couple who lives near Bluemont Park says diesel fumes from a snow melter that the county was using about 40 yards from their home this past winter has contaminated the home. The county paid for the couple to live in a hotel while the snow melter was running, in the wake of January’s blizzard. Now the couple wants the county to pay for a thorough cleaning of the home. [Washington Post]

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County Board to Vote on Contract for High View Park Improvements

By Adrian Cruz

Published July 13, 2016 at 1:30PM

High View Park Sign (file photo)

(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) The Arlington County Board is set to consider a contract for another round of improvements to High View Park’s neighborhood basketball courts and other recreational areas.

The County Board on Saturday is scheduled to vote on a $1.03 million contract for D.C.-based Bennett Group to make several improvements to the park.

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Pike Leaders: Transit Plan ‘Does Not Even Come Close’ to Streetcar-Level Service

By ARLnow.com

Published July 13, 2016 at 9:45AM | Updated July 13, 2016 at 4:08PM

Original Columbia Pike streetcar rendering

The Pike Presidents’ Group ~~sent~~ is sending a letter to Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey yesterday, saying that the county is not delivering on its promise to communities along the Pike to “provide services that are equivalent of the abandoned streetcar plan.”

The letter was drafted in advance of a presentation by county staff on Arlington’s 10-year Transit Development Plan and its plan for a “Premium Transit Network” along the Pike and through Pentagon City and Crystal City.

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Decision on Fire Station 8 Location Is Nearing

By ARLnow.com

Published July 12, 2016 at 2:30PM

Last year, after a proposal to move the station from Lee Highway to county-owned land near Marymount University prompted an outcry from both residents who live near the current station and the proposed location, the county established a task force to consider the issue. With input from the task force, Board is expected to make a decision on the station location by the time it approves the CIP next Tuesday.

Residents near the fire station want it to remain where it is largely because of its historic significance to the community. Those near the proposed site are worried about noise and traffic issues, as well as a loss of green space. A majority of the task force agreed, voting in May to recommend keeping it at its current site.

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Election Board Recommends New Precincts, Boundary Changes

By Andrew Ramonas

Published July 12, 2016 at 12:00PM

Residents near Fashion Centre at Pentagon City and in the Lyon Park neighborhood near Clarendon would get new precincts, according to a proposal the Arlington County Electoral Board and elections director have recommended to the County Board. About a half-dozen other adjustments to boundaries and polling stations also would happen under the election officials’ plan.

The voting district near the Pentagon City mall would come out of the Virginia Highlands Precinct, with a polling station at the new Bartlett apartment building (520 12th Street S.).

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Defense Dept. Wants to Install Explosion Detection Equipment

By ARLnow.com

Published July 12, 2016 at 9:45AM

The Arlington County Board is expected to approve the installation of the detection equipment on county property at its meeting this Saturday.

A county staff report, below, notes that the nature and location of the equipment will be kept secret and exempt from Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act.