Falls Church officials plan to start looking into options for limiting or banning the use of gas-powered leaf blowers within city limits.
Among the issues remaining to be determined, likely early next year, is whether city leaders already have the power to enact a prohibition — or if they must wait for approval from the state government.
The Falls Church City Council is considering a major increase to a pool of funding to support local residents facing short-term financial difficulties.
City staff originally proposed adding $20,000 to $25,100 previously allocated for an assistance fund that provides eligible households with up to $1,000 in support per year.
Election offices in Arlington and Falls Church are on the lookout for any glitches with the U.S. Postal Service handling official election-related mail.
A relatively small number of ballots from the office of Falls Church registrar David Bjerke were mailed but had not yet reached residents who requested them, Bjerke reported at an Oct. 23 meeting of the Falls Church Electoral Board.
Some of the city of Falls Church’s budget surplus could fund outreach to Vietnamese-American communities and celebrations of the United States’ 250th birthday.
An additional $35,000 would extend a current pilot outreach program by another six months, while $50,000 would fund patriotic events and activities next year and $12,600 would support pay raises for the city’s Planning Commission.
A Falls Church sorority chapter is hosting a Halloween-themed collection event for old electronics tomorrow (Saturday).
The city’s Chi Beta Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha has planned the “Hallow-E-Waste” event, which will feature daytime trick-or-treating for kids in addition to waste collection.
A recent forum quizzed Falls Church City Council candidates on what local governments can do to blunt ever-increasing costs of child care and preschool services in Northern Virginia.
It was, one incumbent noted, the first time the issue had been raised during a candidate forum in her memory.
Virginia is for lovers, and so is a new public art installation near Falls Church City Hall.
The art piece, which plays into the commonwealth’s iconic slogan while promoting the Little City as “a unique travel destination,” consists of a set of steel letters spelling out LOVE.
A Falls Church civic group’s effort to ensure that local elections maintain a local focus was subject to some debate at a recent candidate forum.
All but one candidate for both City Council and School Board have signed onto a commitment to campaign in a positive manner and refrain from taking large donations from people and groups outside the community. Incumbent School Board member Lori Silverman, however, pushed back on some aspects of the “pledge” at a recent candidate forum.
Approval of another office-to-residential conversion, amendments to tenant-relocation guidelines and possible changes to towing rates will highlight this month’s County Board meeting.
A public hearing on just one item will be held before adoption during this Saturday’s meeting. All 33 other items slated for action that day are on the Board’s consent agenda, but individual items could be pulled off public hearings on the recessed meeting of Tuesday, Oct. 21.
The owner of the Falls Church News-Press has started a crowdfunding campaign in an attempt to revive the weekly newspaper’s at-home delivery service.
The newspaper, which has been published continuously since 1991, eliminated free at-home delivery in a cost-cutting move earlier this year. Copies can now be picked up via bulk drops at locations across Falls Church and surrounding areas.
Developers of commercial projects in Falls Church could for the first time be required to meet minimum tree-canopy requirements.
City Council members at an Oct. 6 work session generally were supportive of a staff proposal that would set a minimum 10% canopy for future commercial development.
Falls Church officials are breathing a sigh of relief as meals-tax revenue seems to have bounced back from declines earlier in the year.
“We did have a rebound. We’ll continue watching it,” City Manager Wyatt Shields said at the Oct. 3 meeting of the City Council’s budget and finance committee.
