(Updated at 5:15 p.m.) Amazon is moving in at a quickening clip and Arlington County’s budget-makers are breathing a sigh of relief.
After a few years of tight budgets, involving tax rate hikes and a handful of county staff layoffs, “this is a good budget year,” County Manager Mark Schwartz said today, ahead of presenting his proposed Fiscal Year 2021 budget to the Arlington County Board.
Arlington County is planning to partner with Nestlé and the Arlington Community Foundation to create a child care scholarship program.
The Shared Prosperity Child Care Scholarship Program is paid for by a $200,000 donation from Nestlé, the multinational food and drink company that recently expanded its U.S. headquarters in Rosslyn. Nestlé’s baby food subsidiary Gerber is also located in Rosslyn.
The Arlington County Police Department and the Virginia National Guard are planning a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) that could add state-level counter drug support to Arlington’s local law enforcement.
At the Saturday (Feb. 22) meeting, the County Board is scheduled to review the MOU that would add a new National Guard analyst to the police department’s Organized Crime Section.
Good news if you take your kids to play at Edison Park (213 N. Edison Street) in the Arlington Forest neighborhood: Arlington County is planning to put $822,166 of renovations into the park.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, the County Board is scheduled to vote on funding the project. The total proposed allocation is $904,383, with $82,216 set aside as a contingency.
(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) A bevy of new development is coming to Clarendon and Virginia Square, prompting Arlington County to update its plan for the former.
The county’s busy planning division, which is working its way through a crush of post-Amazon HQ2 development applications, is also gearing up to review and perhaps refine the 2006 Clarendon Sector Plan.
Christian Dorsey’s four colleagues on the Arlington County Board are “disappointed” in him and “considering what, if any, are the next appropriate steps to take.”
That’s according to an email from Board Chair Libby Garvey, sent to a constituent who expressed concern about Dorsey’s conduct and obtained by ARLnow.
(Updated at 4:20 p.m.) Arlington County Board member and now-former Metro board member Christian Dorsey cruised to easy election victories in 2019 and thus didn’t need to spend much on his campaign. He did, however, direct campaign cash to himself and his wife.
Dorsey, who is currently trying to resolve a personal bankruptcy, is not accused of wrongdoing in his campaign spending. But it does raise questions amid news that he has not yet fulfilled a promise to repay a $10,000 campaign contribution, deemed unethical by the Metro board after Dorsey failed to notify the board of the donation in a timely manner.
Dorsey Hasn’t Returned Union Donation — Arlington County Board and WMATA board member Christian Dorsey, “who promised three months ago to repay a $10,000 campaign donation that violated the board’s ethics policy, has not yet refunded the money and is likely to be replaced as Virginia’s representative on the regional board. Dorsey said Wednesday that he is working on a wire transfer to return the money to a transit union that routinely negotiates with Metro.” [Washington Post]
Beyer Slams Impeachment Trial — “Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) issued the following statement… ‘Today Senate Republicans ended their impeachment show trial. It will go down as one of the most craven events in American history.'” [Press Release]
Delivery trucks are a frequent topic of complaints from Arlington residents.
Aside from double parking issues, they’re noisy and polluting. When you live near a truck loading dock, you often dread early morning deliveries and the “beep beep beep” of a truck going in reverse. The county often requires that new developments limit loading dock hours, as a condition of approval.
The Arlington County Board voted last night to approve tacking on an extra $200 to speeding tickets in certain residential neighborhoods.
Those hoping the fines will lead to people driving slower on residential streets will have to wait awhile for it to take effect, however.
It’s ARLnow’s 10th Anniversary — On this day 10 years ago ARLnow quietly published its first article. It has since grown to be Arlington’s local news publication of record, read by a majority of those who call our county home. Join us to celebrate this milestone tonight at Bronson Bierhall in Ballston (4100 Fairfax Drive) from 5-7 p.m. [Facebook]
County Board Approves Solar Farm Deal — “‘This is a groundbreaking partnership for the County,’ said County Board Chair Libby Garvey. ‘It will take us a long way toward our goal of 100 percent use of renewable sources for all electricity used in government operations by 2025.’ Arlington County is the first locality in the Commonwealth to enter into a power purchase agreement of this scale for off-site solar energy with an investor-owned utility company.” [Arlington County, Dominion Energy]
Arlington County is set to take a big step toward meeting some of its ambitious renewable energy goals.
The county, which is working to become carbon-neutral by 2050, is joining Amazon in purchasing power from a new solar array in rural Virginia. The County Board is set to vote tonight on purchasing 31.7 percent of the output of a planned, 120 megawatt facility — dubbed the “Amazon Arlington Solar Farm Virginia” — in Pittsylvania County.
