County Board | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published May 22, 2015 at 9:15AM

Memorial Day Closures — Arlington County government offices, courts, schools, and community centers will be closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. Arlington’s public indoor pools will be open, trash and recycling will be collected and ART buses will operate on a holiday schedule. [Arlington County]

Flags In at Arlington National Cemetery — More than 1,000 soldiers from the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment, also known as the Old Guard, placed small American flags in front some 275,000 headstones at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday. The annual ceremony, known as “Flags In,” has been taking place before Memorial Day for more than 60 years. [U.S. Army]

Opinion

The Right Note: Mixed Bag for County Board

By Mark Kelly

Published May 21, 2015 at 1:45PM

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Thumbs Up to Board Members Vihstadt and Garvey for refusing to vote for the Washington Redskins resolution.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 20, 2015 at 9:00AM

Survey Says: Resident Satisfaction High — Resident satisfaction with Arlington County is high, according to Arlington County. The county’s fourth Resident Satisfaction Survey, conducted by an outside research firm, suggested an 89 percent overall satisfaction rate with the quality of county services. “Just two percent of residents were dissatisfied with the overall quality of County services,” said a press release. One notable area for improvement: maintenance of county streets, with a satisfaction level of only 42 percent. [Arlington County]

Peak Memorial Day Traffic Expected Thursday — Contrary to conventional wisdom, the worst Memorial Day holiday traffic in the D.C. area will be Thursday evening, not Friday. According to an analysis of average travel speeds, drivers hoping to escape local holiday traffic should leave at night, around lunchtime Wednesday or Thursday, or Friday morning. [Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments]

News

County Board Adopts Resolution Calling on Redskins to Change Name

By ARLnow.com

Published May 19, 2015 at 5:55PM

The resolution was introduced by County Board member Walter Tejada, who said using the name Redskins as a reference to Native Americans is “objectionable to many Americans, Virginians and Arlingtonians.”

In introducing the resolution, Tejada noted that the team is in talks to move from its current home at FedEx Field, perhaps to Virginia. He also said that the issue is “personal for me” as a native of El Salvador with Mayan roots.

News

Board to Consider Selling Reeves Farmhouse

By ARLnow.com

Published May 19, 2015 at 10:00AM

County Manager Barbara Donnellan is recommending that the Board approve putting the house and a portion of the surrounding property, adjacent to Bluemont Park, on the market for sale to a private buyer. The proposal was added to today’s County Board agenda on Monday.

Even after being sold to a private party, the house — which dates back to 1899 — would remain a local historic district and would be protected from changes that would hurt its historical integrity.

News

County Board Approves Parking Meter Rate Increase

By ARLnow.com

Published May 18, 2015 at 1:30PM

The Arlington County Board on Saturday approved a 25 cent-per-hour rise in metered parking rates. The rate increase is expected to be implemented in September and bring in nearly $1 million per year in extra revenue.

(The increase won’t apply to some reduced-rate meters, currently priced between $0.50-0.75 an hour.)

News

New Arlington Homeless Shelter Delayed

By ARLnow.com

Published May 18, 2015 at 11:00AM

On Saturday the Arlington County Board approved allocating an additional $140,000 to MTFA Architecture, which is providing administration services for the construction project.

County staff said the expenditure is necessary as “a direct result of the construction contractor’s inability to meet its contractual delivery date.”

News

County Board Mulls Higher Parking Meter Rates, Longer Hours

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 11, 2015 at 2:05PM

If the County Board votes in favor of the motion, meter rates will go from $1.25 to $1.50 an hour, while hours will be extended from 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. County transportation staff estimates the measures would generate an additional $1.6 million in combined revenue in FY 2016.

The changes would go into effect on Sept. 7, 2015.

Around Town

Another Planned Arlington Mill Cafe Canceled

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 11, 2015 at 11:30AM | Updated May 11, 2015 at 1:23PM

After signing coffee shop and eatery “Root” to a 10-year-lease in January, the Arlington County Board will vote this weekend to terminate that lease. County staff say the cafe’s owner, Alami Abderrahim, said he could no longer operate the restaurant after paying for an emergency surgery for his mother.

Root is the second cafe the county had signed to fill the restaurant space, and the second that has had to back out. Pan American Cafe was originally signed as the tenant for the 1,875-square-foot space in summer 2013, but asked out of its lease that November, citing family and personal health reasons. The County Board terminated its lease in April 2014.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2015 at 9:00AM

Board Candidates on Bad Decisions — The Democratic candidates for Arlington County Board on Wednesday were asked to name a recent County Board decision they disagreed with. James Lander said he disagreed with the decision to cancel the streetcar. Andrew Schneider said “citizens were owed more of a process” on the streetcar decision. Katie Cristol cited the decision not to fund an extra firefighter to staff certain fire equipment. Christian Dorsey cited the decision to delay building an elementary school next to Thomas Jefferson Middle School. Bruce Wiljanen said he wasn’t happy with the development plan for Rosslyn Highlands Park. Peter Fallon disagreed with the redevelopment of the Bergmann’s dry cleaning site on Lee Highway. [InsideNova]

ACFCU Named ‘Credit Union of the Year’ — Arlington Community Federal Credit Union, an ARLnow.com advertiser, has been named “Federal Credit Union of the Year” by the Arlington-based National Association of Federal Credit Unions. ACFCU was bestowed the honor for credit unions with assets of $250 million or less.

News

County Buys Land in Virginia Square for $30 Million

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 5, 2015 at 2:55PM

The N. Quincy Street property purchased by Arlington County (file photo)

The land was owned by Bill Buck, founder of Buck & Associates and Arlington real estate mainstay, who agreed to let the county pay for the land in stages: $1.2 million at the close of the sale, $1.8 million in 2016 and $27 million by November 20, 2017, after the county undergoes a revision to the Capital Improvements Program.

The County Board approved the purchase 5-0.

News

Another Independent Candidate Enters County Board Race

By ARLnow.com

Published April 30, 2015 at 9:45AM | Updated April 30, 2015 at 10:20AM

In a press release (below) McMenamin said his top priorities will be economic development, adding school capacity, replacing aging infrastructure and fiscal responsibility.

McMenamin, an attorney and owner of a consultancy firm, seems to be aiming to adopt the successful electoral strategy of County Board member John Vihstadt, who was active with the Arlington GOP before running for Board as an independent candidate. However, with the streetcar project canceled, Artisphere set to close and an independent auditor on the way, it’s unclear if McMenamin will be able to tap into the discontent that helped Vihstadt attract Democratic voters.