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The Council Connection
your connection to City Council by:
Mayor Justin M. Wilson
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Alexandria, Virginia
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December 1, 2019
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In This Edition

Council Initiatives
Expanding Alexandria's Broadband
Potomac Yard Metro
Virginia Tech Plans Advance
AAA/Aaa Bond Ratings Affirmed
Our Next Budget
Government Transparency
Expanding Transit on the West End
Aging in Alexandria
Student Enrollment Grows
Host a Town Hall
Upcoming Issues: Legislative Package, 395 Express Lanes and Scooters

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Quick Links
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E-Mail Me [mailto:[email protected]]
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Past Newsletters [[link removed]]
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City of Alexandria Website [[link removed]]
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Pay City Taxes Online [[link removed]]
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Review Real Estate Assessments [[link removed]]
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Crime Mapping & Statistics [[link removed]]
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Call.Click.Connect [[link removed]]
(Submit Service Requests to City Agencies)
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Board & Commission Vacancies [[link removed]]
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Alexandria Health Department Restaurant Inspections [[link removed]]
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Report Potholes [[link removed]]
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Schedule Child Safety Seat Inspection [[link removed]]
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Smoke Detector Installation Request [[link removed]]
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Real Estate Tax Receipt Calculator [[link removed]]
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License Your Dog or Cat [[link removed]]
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Report a Street Light Outage [[link removed]]
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Events/Updates
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Scottish Christmas Walk on Saturday
The 49th Annual Scottish Christmas Walk returns to the streets of Old Town! [[link removed]]
Saturday, from 11 AM to 1 PM, the parade begins at St. Asaph and Wolfe Streets and
concludes at Market Square.
I'll see you at this can't miss event!
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Buy a Christmas Tree
For over 60 years, the Alexandria Police Youth Camp has sent 20,000 children to
Kilmarnock, Virginia for summer camp. [[link removed]]
This unique program gives many children the summer experiences that they otherwise
would be denied.
The biggest fundraiser for this program is the annual sale of Christmas trees.
The trees are on sale now at 110 Callahan Drive (across from the Masonic Temple).
Trees are available for purchase from 4 PM until 8 PM from Monday through Friday.
On the weekends, trees are for sale from 10 AM until 8 PM.
Please support this worthwhile cause by purchasing their Christmas trees.
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Buy Another Christmas Tree
The North Ridge Citizens Association is selling Christmas Trees this weekend! [[link removed]]
Tree sales will benefit the Association and the good work they do in the North Ridge
neighborhood.
Sales will occur in the parking lot at Trinity United Methodist Church at the corner
of Cameron Mills Road and Allison Street.
Trees will be available on Friday from noon until 8 PM, on Saturday from 7:45 AM
until 5:30 PM and on Sunday from 11:45 AM until 5:30 PM.
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Holiday Boat Parade of Lights
Wrapping up an amazing evening in Alexandria, the Holiday Boat Parade of Lights
returns to the Alexandria waterfront on Saturday. [[link removed]]
The event gets started at 5:30 PM and culminates with Santa on waterskis!
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Del Ray Tree Lighting
A week from today (Sunday December 8th) at 6PM, the holidays begin in Del Ray!
The Annual Del Ray Tree Lighting will occur, followed by carols and Santa! [[link removed]]
All activities begin at Mount Vernon Avenue and Oxford Avenue at the site of the
Del Ray Farmers's Market.
Participants are encouraged to bring nonperishable food and diapers to benefit,
gift cards, or Metro cards for Carpenter's Shelter.
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Menorah Lighting
Chabad Lubavitch of Alexandria-Arlington will again host a Chanukah Menorah lighting
open for the public.
This year, the event will occur on Thursday December 26th at 6:30 PM at the Lyceum
at 201 S. Washington Street, the City's history museum. [[link removed]]
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Ring in the New Year!
Tickets are now on sale for the 25th Anniversary First Night Alexandria! [[link removed]]
Ring in the New Year in style in Alexandria.
Enjoy family friendly performances throughout our community culminating in fireworks
to ring in the New Year! [[link removed]]
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Be A Snow Buddy!
Volunteer Alexandria and the City work together to recruit "Snow Buddies." [[link removed]]
Snow Buddies work across our City to help residents who are unable to clear snow
during inclement weather.
Sign up today!
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Leaf Collection Continues
The annual City's leaf collection effort are continuing throughout the City.
The full schedule of leaf vacuuming efforts is available online and will continue
for the next few weeks [[link removed]].
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Backflow Preventer Installation
Backflow preventers can protect a home or business from sewage backflow.
The City recently extended our program to provide financial assistance to property
owners installing these devices.
The deadline to seek reimbursement is the end of this month. Full details are available
online. [[link removed]]
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Eisenhower East Plan
The City is in the process of considering updates to the Eisenhower East Small Area
Plan. This area includes Carlyle.
The draft plan is now posted and we would like your input! [[link removed]]
The plan comes before the Planning Commission and City Council in January.
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REVIVE Training
Twice a month the City offers free training to residents seeking to learn how to
spot and reverse an opioid overdose. [[link removed]]
No RSVP is required, and attendees receive a free medical kit upon completion.
Help become a lifesaver in our community!
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Census Jobs
As part of the preparation for the 2020 Decennial Census, the United States Census
Bureau is already hiring in our area.
Click here [[link removed]]
or here [[link removed]]
to review the various jobs listed for hiring.
Thanks for joining our effort to ensure a full and complete count!
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Last month saw the conclusion of election season in our City.
Congratulations to Senator Saslaw, Senator Barker, Senator Ebbin, Delegate Herring
and Delegate Levine on their re-elections to the General Assembly.
Additional congratulations are in order for Greg Parks, who was elected as our City's
next Clerk of Circuit Court.
Special congratulations are due to Delegate Herring, who will become the Majority
Leader of the new House of Delegates, and to Senator Saslaw, who will become the
Majority Leader of the new State Senate.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.
As we begin the holiday season, there are many ways you can support those in need
in our City.
Alexandria's Department of Community and Human Services administers our "Holiday
Sharing Program," which allows residents to sponsor families, senior citizen or
disabled individuals, and foster children. [[link removed]]
Best wishes for a joyous holiday season!
Let me know how I can help. Please contact me anytime [mailto:[email protected]]
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Council Initiatives
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New Broadband For Alexandria
Over 6 years ago, I proposed that the City develop a broadband plan to bring true
competition to Alexandria's broadband market. [[link removed]]
It has taken far too long, but the City is finally moving ahead on an effort to
bring new broadband capacity to our community.
Last month, the City issued a solicitation [[link removed]]
to select a vendor to construct a municipal fiber network to serve City and School
facilities around our community. [[link removed]]
Nearly 5 years ago, the City issued a Request for Information (RFI). This RFI solicited
concepts from the private sector for partnership with the City in expanding broadband
options, availability, and capabilities. We received 10 responses from potential
private partners and those responses shaped the approach the City is now taking.
For years, Alexandria has sought new private investment in broadband infrastructure.
For most of our residents, we have one company providing Internet connectivity and
television. With new Verizon FIOS deployment plans shelved [[link removed]]around
the country and Google Fiber largely dead [[link removed]],
the investment in broadband infrastructure must fall to local governments. Regardless
of the performance of incumbent providers, technological innovation and reliability
thrives on competition.
This is an issue that impacts not only residents but also our businesses and the
ability of our community to attract new investment.
Concurrent with the FY 2017 budget process, the City completed the initial financial
estimates for the first phase of the infrastructure build-out [[link removed]].
The plan is designed to replace the City's existing connectivity agreement for City
facilities with a City-owned fiber network.
By leveraging E-Rate funding from the FCC [[link removed]],
achieving operating savings from the costs of the existing agreement, and the potential
for private leases of our infrastructure, the effort may be able to pay for itself.
In the fall of 2016, the Council unanimously took the next step [[link removed]]
in this important process, as we requested that the City Manager formally solicit
for new providers to partner with the City.
One of the core components of the original proposal I made was that the City adopt
a "Dig Once" policy. [[link removed]]
Essentially that's a policy that makes the City more efficient by leveraging existing
underground infrastructure work to also make broadband infrastructure investments.
With hundreds of millions of dollars of sewer and transportation work scheduled
over the next decade, we should sequence and combine that work to be the most efficient.
This is an exciting project and one that gives the City the best chance to leverage
its assets to bring new broadband services to our residents and businesses.
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Potomac Yard Metro Groundbreaking Scheduled
For a quarter of a century, the City has been working to bring an inline Metro Rail
station to Potomac Yard. On Thursday December 19th we will break ground to formally
begin construction to make that station reality. [[link removed]]
On the front page of the Final Environmental Impact Statement [[link removed]]
for the Potomac Yard Metro Station are the seals of four entities: Federal Transit
Administration, Department of the Interior, WMATA and the
City of Alexandria. Later in the report there is additional input from the US Army
Corps of Engineers, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the National Capital
Planning Commission.
The breadth of the entities involved clearly demonstrates the complexity of the
project. This project is deeply complex and has been challenging to bring to reality
for decades.
In September, one of the final permits required for construction of the station
to proceed was approved. The State Water Control Board approved a permit which reflects
the mitigation required for impacts on the wetlands by the construction of the station
[[link removed]].
Last month, the US Army Corps of Engineers issued the final permit approval required.
[[link removed]]
As the design efforts have continued, there are "virtual tour" videos of the future
station available online for review [[link removed]].
Two months ago, Council authorized the issuance of General Obligation bonds to support
the construction activity related to the new station [[link removed]].
Since November, when the Commonwealth of Virginia announced the investment of $50
million into the Potomac Yard Metro Station [[link removed]],
the City has been working to apply that investment to improve access to the station.
Adding a $50 million+ investment to a $320 million capital project, after the contract
has been awarded, is not an insignificant undertaking.
With the active engagement from the Potomac Yard Metro Implementation Group (PYMIG),
three alternatives for improving access were developed [[link removed]]
and ultimately submitted to the contractor to be priced.
Option 3 was clearly the most favored option of PYMIG and the community members
who provided input into this process. Unfortunately, the City received the pricing
on each of the three alternatives, and all three are over the $50 million allocated
by the Commonwealth [[link removed]].
In the case of the preferred alternative, the estimate was $100 million.
There is some belief that the first alternative can be further value-engineered
to bring the cost down. It will be a few more weeks until we can determine whether
that is possible or even advisable.
Concurring with the recommendation of the PYMIG, the City Council voted in June
to pursue further value engineering of Option 1, while looking at options to apply
the state investment to improving the plan for the station approved by Council in
the fall. [[link removed]]
Over a year ago, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced
the most significant milestone in the the City's 4-decade long effort to bring a
new metro station to Potomac Yard. WMATA announced the selection of Potomac Yard
Constructors as the prime construction contractor [[link removed]].
Potomac Yard Constructors is a joint venture of Halmar International [[link removed]]
and Schiavone Construction Company [[link removed]].
The bid was ranked the highest technically during the procurement process and had
the lowest price. WMATA provided Potomac Yard Constructors with the formal "Notice
to Proceed," and the formal design and construction of the new station has begun.
The Potomac Yard Metro project will facilitate the creation of up to 26,000 new
jobs and will bring up to $2 billion of new tax revenue to the City (over 30 years).
It removes thousands of vehicles from one of the most crowded corridors in our City.
It promotes the creation of the kind of walkable community our City has long desired
in Potomac Yard. [[link removed]]
For decades, the City has discussed, planned, and just plain hoped for a Metro Rail
station at Potomac Yard.
In 2008, along with then-Councilman Rob Krupicka, I proposed a new start to efforts
to bring Metro to Potomac Yard. We included language in the City's Transportation
Master Plan [[link removed]]
explicitly calling for a new station at Potomac Yard. We also tied the construction
and funding of Metro to the development occurring in the Yard.
The result is a funding plan for Potomac Yard Metro [[link removed]]
that not only leverages the development activity in Potomac Yard, but also does
so without requiring the contributions of General Fund taxpayers.
The largest environmental, economic development [[link removed]],
and transportation initiative in our City's history is being accomplished using
one of the most innovative funding mechanisms used anywhere in the country [[link removed]].
The current schedule calls for the station to open in early 2022, but that will
be refined as we move forward.
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Virginia Tech Campus Takes Shape
It has now been over a year since, in conjunction with the announcement of Amazon
placing a portion of its new "HQ2" in the Crystal City section of Arlington County,
Governor Northam announced that part of the Commonwealth's incentive package will
include state funds to support the creation of a new Virginia Tech "Innovation Campus"
in Alexandria [[link removed]].
Last month, the Virginia Tech Foundation submitted its first concept plans to the
City for the construction of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus and related office,
retail and residential development [[link removed]].
To obtain early community input, a meeting was held with a presentation detailing
the submission [[link removed]].
You can watch the video of the full public presentation online [[link removed]].
While originally announced to be in Oakville Triangle, Virginia Tech decided that
a property in North Potomac Yard (where the movie theater currently is) made more
sense given their future growth plans. In June, the leadership of Virginia Tech
was back in Alexandria to announce the new location they had selected the property
for their future "Innovation Campus." [[link removed]]
Integral to the Commonwealth's attraction of Amazon was access to the talent Amazon
will require to grow. The creation of a new $1 billion graduate campus will provide
a pipeline of talent for our entire region [[link removed]].
In doing so, this new investment in our City will spur new job creation, catalyze
redevelopment in Potomac Yard, Oakville Triangle and beyond, as well as open up
new educational partnerships for our schools and non-profit organizations.
Last month, I wrote in this newsletter about our partnership with Arlington to ensure
that the benefits of these new investments accrue to all in our communities [[link removed]].
As this campus begins to take shape, our work continues.
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AAA/Aaa Bond Ratings Renewed
Last month, S & P Global Ratings and Moody's Investor Services both reaffirmed the
City's bond ratings of AAA and Aaa respectively. [[link removed]]
The confirmation of these ratings, in advance of the City's largest bond-issuance
in our history, allows the City to access the lowest possible borrowing costs, saving
the taxpayers millions over the life of our bonds.
Last month, the City Council unanimously voted to authorize the issuance of $200
million of new General Obligation bonds [[link removed]].
This new borrowing will be used to finance the construction of the Potomac Yard
Metro station as well as other projects in our Capital Improvement Program.
Each time the City goes to borrow money for its capital budget, it must go before
the rating agencies to have its credit worthiness evaluated, which guides market
valuation. Last month, I accompanied our staff to New York to meet with the agencies
and present information on the City's newly planned borrowing.
Much like individuals must have a credit check performed before acquiring a mortgage,
a car loan, or a new credit card, the City must go before Standard & Poor's and
Moody's to have the two organizations assess whether we are doing a good job managing
the City's finances.
.
In May, the Council adopted our 10 year Capital Improvement Program, covering fiscal
years 2020 - 2029. [[link removed]]
Over the 10 year period, the program calls for $1.618 billion in capital investment
throughout the City. A third of this funding goes to City and School municipal facilities.
Another third goes to transportation initiatives.
Our capital budget is funded primarily through a mix of debt and current year funding
also known as "cash capital." Relating this to your home mortgage, the cash capital
is the down payment. We also pay interest each year on the debt that was issued
in previous years.
In issuing the City's rating, Moody's wrote: "The stable outlook reflects the likelihood
that the city will maintain its healthy financial given strong operating trends
and conservative budgeting practices and that the sizable tax base will continue
to grow and diversify."
Standard & Poor's similarly cited that "We view the City's management as very strong,
with strong financial policies and practices..."
Over the past few years, I have pushed for new policies to make the City's balance
sheet even stronger. Nearly five years ago, the Council unanimously adopted a new
"cash capital" policy, which served to reduce debt levels and the risk of our borrowing
[[link removed]].
This year, the Council approved amendments to our "Spendable Fund Balance," essentially
expanding the amount of reserves we have available. [[link removed]]
This new policy was recommended by the City's Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory
Committee, and it was specifically cited by the rating agencies in support of our
ratings.
Alexandria is very conservative with our use of debt.
Arlington County limits its debt to 4% of its Fair Market Real Property Value. Both
Fairfax and Prince William Counties limit their debt to 3%. Alexandria's self-imposed
limit is 2.5%, and this budget year we achieved 1.60% [[link removed]]
.
The median for other similarly rated and sized jurisdictions is 2.42%.
In fact, in the Standard & Poor's analysis, they noted that the City was rated higher
than the "sovereign" (the US Federal Government) because "we believe the City can
maintain better credit characteristics than the U. S. in a stress scenario."
Debt is a tool that allows us to balance the costs of large capital investments
across the generations of Alexandria taxpayers that will benefit from them and to
pay for our investments from the returns we reap from them.
It is important for us to maintain the careful stewardship that will protect our
taxpayers and our City's infrastructure long into the future.
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Budget Preview & Guidance
The most important decision the City Council makes each year is the adoption of
the annual operating budget and capital improvement program. The operating budget
generally funds the on-going costs of government (primarily personnel), while the
capital budget funds one-time expenditures that provide the community with an asset
(new schools, new roads, new playing fields, transit buses, etc).
It has always been my view that the most important part of the budget process is
the adoption of our annual budget guidance for the City Manager [[link removed]].
While the budget is not presented until February, City Council adopts a resolution
in the fall which provides the City Manager with direction as to how to prepare
that budget.
The guidance typically provides direction on tax policy, expenditure priorities,
debt policy, and other emergent issues. To prepare the Council to provide this
direction, an annual budget retreat is conducted.
On the second Saturday in November, the Council had our annual budget retreat and
received the first glimpse into next year's financial picture [[link removed]].
This is the beginning of the Council's process to adopt the Fiscal Year 2021 (July
1, 2020 - June 30, 2021) Operating Budget and the Fiscal Year 2021 - Fiscal Year
2030 Capital Improvement Program.
The initial projections are that next year's revenues will grow at a rate of 2.1%
overall. If that estimate holds, that would provide the City government with about
$15.9 million of new revenue.
With real estate taxes generating most of our resources, our projected growth
is driven by a modest increase in residential real estate assessments (2%-3%) and
lower growth in our commercial real estate and consumption based taxes (sales tax,
dining tax, utility tax, communications tax, etc).
On the expenditure side, we quickly begin to see our challenge. Given continued
student enrollment growth (highlighted elsewhere in this newsletter), the initial
projection from the Alexandria City Public Schools is for an additional $8.1 million
of operating funds. The Superintendent has not yet presented his proposed operating
budget. Once he does, and the School Board has adopted an operating budget we will
have a better understanding of the pressures.
Our estimates now include the impact of the recently approved collective bargaining
agreement for DASH Bus employees, which will be nearly $4 million in FY 2021. Increases
to operating budget support of our capital spending for this year requires an additional
$5.1 million.
When all requests and anticipated costs are included, that creates an estimated
shortfall of $5.9 million before we start the process. As context, that is one of
the smaller estimated shortfalls the City has projected at the outset of a budget
process in years.
Yet that gap does not include:

* Potential salary adjustments to address competitive pressures, particularly in
our public safety agencies

* The impacts of proposed additional capital spending, specifically large increases
in capital expenditures proposed to address school facility needs [[link removed]].
By the time the Council adopts its budget in May, that gap must be addressed by
tax increases, expenditure reductions, or some combination of the two. The Council
begins to set that direction with the adoption of its budget guidance.
It is always easier to cut the budget in the fall and winter, than it is for the
Council to cut the budget in the spring during its budget process. As such, my
preference is that the City Manager be directed to present a budget without an increase
in the real estate tax rate. Yet, in adopting the guidance resolution this year,
a majority of the Council did wish to provide the City Manager with the flexibility
to propose a real estate tax rate increase.
I was however successful in amending the proposed guidance resolution to allow the
City to take another step towards multi-year budgeting, by asking our staff provide
more detail on the proposed expenditures for FY 2022 in addition to FY 2021 budget
being proposed. It is my view that adopting a long-term approach to operating expenditures
is a best practice, and prudent budgeting for the City.
The City Manager's proposed budget is scheduled to be presented on Tuesday February
18, 2019 shortly after real estate assessments are complete and final revenue projections
prepared.
Once the budget is presented, the City will hold a full schedule of budget worksessions
and public hearings to provide our residents the opportunity to learn more and provide
input on the proposed budget. [[link removed]]
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Government Transparency
Less than a year ago, the City unveiled our public Performance Dashboard [[link removed]],
allowing the residents of our City to assess the performance of critical City services
based on meaningful performance metrics.
With that data available, it's important for the Council and public to review performance
periodically.
You can watch last month's presentation to the Council of the performance highlights
from these dashboards [[link removed]]
and Council's discussion.
Providing accountable results to the residents of Alexandria for their tax investment
is a role of government. To support that accountability, government must have good
data. We have now made another large step forward as we work to better collect more
relevant data to measure how we provide City services.
Over a decade ago, then City Manager Jim Hartmann introduced the Managing for Results
Initiative, known as "MFRI. [[link removed]]"
MFRI categorized our City services into programs and activities that could be
measured and reported. The budget format was then revised so that the proposed budget
aligned expenditures to those programs and activities. This allowed the City to
measure the performance and efficiency of services during the annual budget process.
Our previous City Manager, Rashad Young, then created the Office of Performance
and Accountability (OPA). OPA was designed as an internal consultancy to implement
performance improvement and efficiency throughout city government operations.
Four years ago we took the next step, as OPA unveiled the first draft of our regular
Performance Reports. These reports cover each of the service areas of the City's
Strategic Plan. They provide the performance and quality measures that are expected
of City departments, while assisting the Council and City management to make good,
data-driven decisions about those services.
The Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) also has a similar performance accountability
system called iDashboard [[link removed]].
ACPS provides a consolidated dashboard of its key performance indicators to allow
parents and community members easy access to this data.
While identifying and reporting the metrics to measure the services we provide is
an important innovation, we have a long way to go. We must improve the quality of
our data, increase the frequency of when it is reported, and use the data to make
better decisions about how we allocate resources. I look forward to continued progress
in this area.
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New Transit For Our City
A little over a decade ago, the City adopted its latest Transportation Master Plan
[[link removed]].
At the time, the plan was a significant transition in that it shifted from a plan
focused on roads and vehicle traffic, to a plan that prioritized transit.
We are now in the process of updating that 2008 Transportation Master Plan and we
can use your input on the updates [[link removed]].
One of the most significant changes that came from the 2008 Master Plan was
the designation of three transit corridors for high-capacity transit. The three
corridors were Transit Corridor A, which was nominally north to south on Route 1
on the east end of the City, Transit Corridor B, which was intended as east to
west on Duke Street and Transit Corridor C, which was north to south on the west
end of the City using Van Dorn and Beauregard.
After the adoption of the 2008 Master Plan, a community task force was assembled
to provide some more details around the vision for each of the transit corridors
[[link removed]].
Transit Corridor A began service as "Metroway" over five years ago, and was the
region's first bus rapid transit service, providing service to Potomac Yard and
Crystal City, which further enhancements planned. [[link removed]]
Transit Corridor C, now called the "West End Transitway" will be the next to come
to reality. The West End Transitway has now been awarded $73 million of State and
Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) funds [[link removed]].
The slower pace of redevelopment in the Beauregard corridor will necessitate multiple
phases to implement this project. With funding now in place (although not until
2024-2025), work begins to plan the implementation [[link removed]].
Transit Corridor B, will be the final corridor implemented. With planning money
now awarded, the City will conduct community engagement next year to update the
decade-old plans for this transit service.
High capacity transit provides our residents with alternatives to congestion and
delay. I am optimistic that we will be able to bring these projects to reality.
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Aging in Alexandria
The fastest growing population in Alexandria are those over 60 years of age. As
the "boomers" age, their numbers are projected to double in our City from 15,473
in 2000 to over 30,000 in 2030.
Facing this population growth and their changing needs was a central focus of the
Alexandria Commission on Aging's strategic planning effort almost 8 years ago. The
result was the "The Alexandria of our Future, A Livable Community For All Ages;
Strategic Plan on Aging 2013 - 2017." [[link removed]]
Last year, the City built on this effort by adopting an "Age Friendly Plan for a
Livable Community 2019-2021." [[link removed]]
This plan proposed more aggressive actions.
One of the goals adopted in the plan committed the City to address housing needs
to ensure a place for our aging population in Alexandria in our future. While typically
the highest and best use of any parcel of land in Alexandria is going to be market-rate
residential housing, the City can implement policies to encourage the development
of places for our aging population.
Accommodating these uses under our existing land-use regulations can be difficult.
Almost 5 years ago, after hours of divided testimony, the City Council approved
by a vote of 6-1 the development and operation [[link removed]]
of a new "memory care" facility on King Street between Ivy Hill Cemetery and the
existing Woodbine Rehabilitation. Silverado was selected to operate this facility
and it open a year and a half ago to provide care for 65 residents with Alzheimer's
or other memory impairments [[link removed]].
In approving this facility, the applicant agreed to provide two units at deeply
subsidized rates to income-eligible residents of our community.
In other situations, this use has been easier to accommodate. Two years ago, the
Council voted unanimously to approve a facility proposed by Sunrise Senior Living
at 400 N. Washington Street [[link removed]].
In this facility, there will be a maximum of 93 assisted living units, including
27 memory care units.
In approving this facility, the applicant agreed to provide two studio units supported
by "auxiliary grants," [[link removed]]
to ensure that not only the housing, but the services are affordable for some of
Alexandria's residents.
A year ago, Council also unanimously approved a proposal by Silverstone Senior Living
for two buildings of senior housing, including seven auxiliary grant units, to be
located in Potomac Yard [[link removed]].
While these new investments are positive developments for seniors in our community,
an aging population means the demand will continue to grow.
To facilitate land-use approvals for these uses, Council considered a text amendment
to create a new "Continuum of Care" facility in the City's land-use code. [[link removed]]
This new definition consolidates uses that are today referred to as an "Elder Care
Home," "Home for the Elderly," or "Nursing or Convalescent Home or Hospice."
With the adoption of this text amendment last month, Council eased the approval
of this use in zones across the City. I am hopeful that we will continue that progress
by modifying regulation of this use across the City.
As we work to encourage a place for our growing aging population in our community,
aligning our land-use policies to those goals is crucial. I believe this change
will assist that work.
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Student Enrollment Increases Continue
This year, 16,062 students started in the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS).
That constitutes a 2% increase from the previous year or about 325 additional students.
[[link removed]]
This year is the thirteenth straight year of enrollment growth. During that period,
ACPS has added over 5,000 students.
The last time we had this many children attending our schools was nearly 50 years
ago in the early 1970s [[link removed]].
Seven years ago, the City convened the Joint Long Range Educational Facilities Work
Group [[link removed]].
The group was given the essential charge to understand our recent increase in student
enrollment, better project enrollment growth in the future, and to decide what to
do about it.
The School Board Chair and Vice Chair at the time, the Mayor at the time, and I
joined a group of community members and staff to steer the effort.
We have also worked to understand where the enrollment is coming from. For example,
we learned that low-rise apartments generate
nearly three times the students as high-rise or mid-rise apartments do. We learned
that single family homes generate nearly double the students as townhouses. We know
that public housing and other income-restricted units far outpace any other property
type for student generation.
We now know that housing units built over 30 years ago account for four times the
student generation as those built in the past 30 years [[link removed]].
These data points remind us of the need to address this enrollment growth head-on.
In June of 2015, the City Council and the School Board adopted the Joint Long Range
Educational Facilities Plan [[link removed]].
The Plan is the culmination of the group's work in conjunction with the efforts
of both ACPS and City staff. The Plan looks at each elementary school building in
the City, assesses the facility's educational adequacy, and provides a roadmap for
increasing capacity and addressing deficiencies.
Last year, the Council and School adopted phase two of this effort, planning for
additional capacity at the high school level and in pre-school [[link removed]].
Last school year, the ACPS opened the first net new school building in nearly two
decades with the opening of Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School on the West End [[link removed]].
Almost a year ago, ACPS opened the newly rebuilt Patrick Henry K-8 School [[link removed]].
Both of these new buildings added badly needed capacity in areas of the City with
rapidly growing enrollment.
Last month, the City Council unanimously approved land-use modifications to allow
the old Patrick Henry Elementary School building to be temporarily used at "swing-space"
[[link removed]]
to facilitate a planned rebuild of Douglas MacArthur Elementary School.
The City's approved 10 year capital improvement program for the Alexandria City
Public Schools includes $479 million over the next decade [[link removed]].
This provides the funding for both new and renovated facilities, as well as non-capacity
infrastructure investments. Only 6 years ago, the 10 year capital improvement program
for our Schools was less than half as much at $203 million [[link removed]].
The Superintendent has proposed his 10-year Capital Improvement Program to the School
Board, and the Board is in the process of deliberating on his proposal. This plan
proposes a significant increase for the next decade, to require $530 million. Once
adopted by the Board, this will be one of the areas of discussion in the City Council's
upcoming budget process.
While capacity will remain the focus of the investments we must make in our school
facilities, we have seen far too many examples of the dangers of systemic under-investment
in our school facilities. Returning our school facilities to a state of good repair
while sustaining a preventative maintenance cycle must be a priority of our collective
investment. There can be no excuse for poorly maintained learning environments for
our children.
It can be perilous to overreact to one year of enrollment growth. Yet after more
than a decade of growth, it is clear that this is our "new normal." While the enrollment
growth does present a costly challenge for the City and its taxpayers, it is a good
challenge to have.
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Host a Town Hall in Your Living Room!
As Mayor, I am continuing my regular series of Town Hall Meetings.
You supply the living room and a bunch of your friends and neighbors. I will supply
the Mayor who will hopefully have the answers to any of your questions about our
City.
Just drop us a line [mailto:[email protected]] and we'll get a Town
Hall on the calendar! Thanks for the interest!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upcoming Issues

Legislative Package
Next month the Virginia General Assembly returns to Richmond for the so-called "long-session."
The General Assembly alternates between a 45 day session in odd number years and
a 60 day session in even number years.
Given the results of the elections last month, this session is shaping up to be
one which can significantly alter the trajectory of the Commonwealth. For the first
in 8 years, Democrats will now control the State Senate and for the first time in
22 years, Democrats will now control the House of Delegates.
For Alexandria specifically, our delegation will now boast BOTH Majority Leaders
(Senator Saslaw leading the State Senate and Delegate Herring leading the House
of Delegates) and a few committee chairs. That will be an unprecedented level of
influence for our City.
Every year, the City Council adopts a Legislative Package for the upcoming General
Assembly session. While the state government is certainly a significant financial
supporter of the City's budget, Richmond also sets a legal environment that affects
how we provide services to our residents.
For years, most of our legislative priorities have not fared well in the General
Assembly. Our priorities have rarely aligned with those leading the majority caucuses
in either house.
Given the large changes in Richmond, we took a different approach to our Legislative
Package this year. Along with Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, I serve on the
City's Legislative Committee, which recommends the Legislative Package each year
to our colleagues.
This year, we have chosen to prepare a "Statement of Legislative Principles" and
a "Statement of Legislative Priorities." [[link removed]]
Given the breadth of legislation likely to be filed, and potentially enacted, we
felt it more appropriate to weigh in on the broader themes that we wished to see
addressed on behalf of the City in the upcoming session.
Yet we do have specific asks within the legislative priorities, including:

* The City will be again seeking funding from the Commonwealth to assist in funding
the implementation of new state mandates for combined sewer remediation work in
Old Town. We were fortunate to receive $25 million during last year's session, and
we will be seeking additional investment by the Commonwealth.
* This City is requesting that the Commonwealth make a significant investment in
school facilities construction and maintenance. Jurisdictions around the state
(including Alexandria) are struggling with the costs of growing student enrollment
and aging school facilities.
* The City is requesting increasing funding for P-12 education, including expanded
resources for children who are more expensive to educate, and changes to the local
match requirement for early childhood education.
We are optimistic that this upcoming session will result in new legislation adopted
in alignment with the City's values and supporting our delivery of critical services.
The City is represented in the State Senate by Senator Richard Saslaw [[link removed]],
Senator George Barker [[link removed]],
and Senator Adam Ebbin [[link removed]].
In the House of Delegates, the City is represented by Delegate Charniele Herring
[[link removed]]
and Delegate Mark Levine [[link removed]].
Click here to determine who represents you [[link removed]].
395 Express Lanes
In 2012, the City Council worked to clarify the City's position regarding a then-proposed
connection from the Interstate 395 HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) Lanes onto Seminary
Road.
At the the time the Council held serious concerns about potential adverse impacts
to cut-through traffic if all vehicles were allowed to use the exit onto Seminary
during rush hour.
Ultimately, the City Council adopted a resolution limiting the connectivity and
certain turn movements [[link removed]].
The new ramp opened nearly 3 years ago to operation [[link removed]].
A year ago, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) notified the City that
Transurban (the concessionaire for the Interstate 395 Express Lanes) wished to evaluate
the existing HOV operations on the south-facing ramp and consider whether a HOT
(High Occupancy Tolling) ramp is more appropriate.
This would be a significant change and holds the potential to have negative impacts
on Seminary Road and other City streets.
To fully evaluate those potential impacts, Transurban commissioned an extension
study on the impacts of any change on streets through the City [[link removed]].
They have now completed that study and have provided that data to the City to analyze.
On Monday December 9th at 6:30 PM at Minnie Howard School, VDOT and Transurban will
host a public meeting to review their findings and receive public input.
Following the public engagements, the City Council will ultimately adopt a position
on this proposal on behalf of the City.
Dockless Scooters
Disruptive technologies have been especially "disruptive" to local government. Whether
it's Uber and Lyft or food trucks, when these new businesses come to municipalities,
they typically precede laws that govern their use,
This was undoubtedly true when dockless scooters began showing up in Alexandria
last year. After some discussion with our regional neighbors and community engagement,
the Council approved a 9-month (and later extended through the end of the year)
pilot program a year ago.
The pilot program required each company to execute a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with the City. This agreement imposed rules and requirements on the companies
and their customers [[link removed]].
This pilot program was designed to help the City determine if these devices have
a place in our City.
The pilot was slow to get started, but today there are seven companies who have
executed the MOU with the City, each allowed to operate 200 scooters in our City.
Over 230,000 scooter trips were taken in the City during the first 9 months of the
pilot. [[link removed]]
The City Council has heard a substantial amount of input on these dockless scooters
from many residents in our community. While there is certainly support for these
devices being in our community, I have heard significant concerns about scooters
blocking sidewalks, being operated on sidewalks, the aesthetics of the devices,
riders without helmets, scooters creating accessibility issues, and general concerns
about enforcement.
Our staff returned to the Council with updated recommendations for creation of a
Phase 2 pilot for all of 2020 [[link removed]].
You can watch the staff presentation of the recommendations and the Council's discussion
of those recommendations online [[link removed]].
Council will be holding a Public Hearing on these recommendations on Saturday December
14th beginning at 9:30 AM at City Hall. Public testimony is welcome, and we'd love
to have you there!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mayor Justin M. Wilson
703.746.4500
[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
www.justin.net [[link removed]]
Alexandria City Hall
301 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Paid for by Wilson For Mayor
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Mayor Justin M. Wilson | 301 King Street | ALEXANDRIA | VA | 22314