(Updated at 10:35 on 2/12/2021) Fairfax County government workers whose jobs put them at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 will now receive $2,000 in hazard pay, an increase from the $1,500 that county staff initially recommended in January.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the one-time bonuses on Tuesday (Feb. 9) before directing staff to look for additional funding to cover bonuses for all employees.
“It has been something to watch the response of our county employees over the past year to this pandemic,” Board Chairman Jeff McKay said after introducing the motion. “To be able to do this and have the resources available to reward these employees and thank them is absolutely critical.”
While the board expanded the program to include limited-term employees as well as merit employees, it backed staff’s suggestion of using the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health COVID-19 risk assessment to determine workers’ eligibility for hazard pay.
When the proposal first came to the board during its budget committee meeting on Jan. 12, some supervisors expressed concern about leaving out workers who could contract COVID-19 while on the job but don’t meet the VOSH standards for their risk level to be classified as “high” or “very high.”
The board planned to vote on hazard pay on Jan. 26, but the decision was postponed so that county staff could continue talks with the Fairfax County government employees’ union, SEIU Virginia 512, and other workers’ groups, which were advocating for hazard pay to be available to all employees.
Because the hazard pay comes from CARES Act relief funds, Fairfax County staff say federal guidelines dictate that the money must be limited to employees whose duties involve physical hardship directly related to pandemic emergency response efforts.
The approved proposal will cost an estimated $9.2 million, keeping it within the $10 million allocation that the Board of Supervisors set aside from the county’s coronavirus relief fund for hazard pay.
A broader hazard pay plan would have to use county funds, which McKay previously told Tysons Reporter would be “unlikely” to happen with the fiscal year 2022 budget. County Executive Bryan Hill will present an FY 2022 budget proposal to the board on Feb. 23.
The Board of Supervisors instead hopes to find the money for more bonuses in its FY 2021 budget through a third-quarter review that will be approved when the FY 2022 budget is marked up on Apr. 27.
“I think this is exactly the type of environment that we’re in right now that contributes to making bonuses a practical, doable solution to really value the work of all of our county employees at a time when we can’t do all of the things we’d like to do,” McKay said.
For the FY 2021 third-quarter review, staff have also been asked to evaluate the county’s leave programs and determine if new options can be provided to employees who have been unable to take advantage of existing programs due to the nature of their job.
SEIU Virginia 512 Executive Board President Tammie Wondong says the union was glad that Fairfax County ultimately included limited-term employees in its hazard pay plan, but more still needs to be done to ensure all workers are fairly compensated during the pandemic and beyond — something she argues can only be guaranteed if the union gets collective bargaining powers.
“We are headed in the right direction, because the fact is we were heard, and we got their attention,” Wondong said. “That’s the most important thing, that they heard us and they responded. It’s not fixed. We’ve still got a lot more work to do, but…now we’re able to continue to lift our voices and talk about how it continues to impact us, with the pandemic that’s going on and how people are risking their lives just to be out there.”
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
Ribbon Cutting Held for New Scotts Run Trail — “Fairfax County leaders on Feb. 4 cut the ribbon for the new Scotts Run Trail, which with serpentine curves connects the Pimmit Hills neighborhood with the McLean Metro station on the eastern edge of Tysons.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
Sunrise of McLean Residents Get COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic — Residents and employees of the assisted living community Sunrise of McLean “received their first doses at a clinic hosted by CVS on Jan. 28. Sunrise Senior Living is working to schedule a clinic for second doses within the next few weeks in coordination with CVS Health.” [Patch]
Vienna Inn Prepares 61st Anniversary Celebrations — “To mark the 61st anniversary, Vienna Inn is hoping to achieve a new goal with a 1960 meal challenge. The restaurant hopes to provide 1960 meals for front-line workers and first responders by the end of February.” [Patch]
School Board Criticized for Delaying Decision on New School Holidays — “Religious leaders in Northern Virginia are criticizing the Fairfax County Public School board after some members signaled they won’t back a task force’s recommendation to add…four additional days off to observe Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Hindu festival Diwali and the Muslim celebration Eid al-Fitr.” [The Washington Post]
Fairfax County Seeks Community Input on Affordable Housing — A public comment period has opened on the one-year and five-year plans that guide Fairfax County’s housing and community development goals and how it spends the roughly $8.5 million in federal funds it receives annually to address community housing and human services needs. [Fairfax County Government]
A new pedestrian bridge and shared-use trail linking Tysons Corner Center to the McLean Metro station is on track to start construction this summer, the Virginia Department of Transportation says.
The project will introduce a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the Capital Beltway, along with a 4,662-foot-long, 10-foot-wide path between I-495 and Route 123 along the west side of Old Meadow Road.
“I think this is going to be a good thing for Tysons,” VDOT Senior Project Manager Abraham Lerner said. “It will continue to go along with the goals of the Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County staff to implement multimodal measures and to try to reduce the dependence on the private automobile.”
This pedestrian and bicycle improvement at the I-495/123 interchange has been in the works for years as part of a commitment that VDOT and Fairfax County made when the Beltway was widened to accommodate toll lanes.
The I-495 Express Lanes project, which was completed in November 2012, called for the addition of pedestrian and bicycle connections throughout the Beltway corridor from Braddock Road in Annandale to Lewinsville Road in McLean.
However, a crossing at the 123 interchange could not be built at the time because of “a number of physical and geometric reasons,” Lerner says. So, Fairfax County and the state committed to constructing one in the future.
About five years ago, VDOT and the county proposed building a trail along Route 123, but the idea drew public criticism given the safety risks of having crosswalks across multiple Beltway ramps, according to Chris Wells, who manages the Fairfax County Department of Transportation’s Active Transportation Program.
Transportation officials then looked at options for building an overhead bridge across I-495 near 123, rather than immediately at the interchange. Old Meadow Road emerged as the most feasible site.
“Because of the design of the Beltway itself and the express lanes, there was only this one location that we found where we could put a bridge pier in the middle of the Beltway,” Wells said. “Otherwise, we were going to have to span the entire Beltway with a larger bridge structure, which would’ve been much more expensive.”
VDOT held a public hearing on the project in June 2018, and the design was approved in November of that year. But Lerner says the right-of-way acquisition process took over nine months to complete, since the project needed land from six different properties.
The Dolley Madison Apartments and Encore Condominiums were affected the most, with residents citing concerns about the loss of trees, the potential impact on security and privacy, and the safety of a path with no separation between cyclists and pedestrians.
“Because of all the concerns, the issues that were raised during the public hearing process, we needed to work with [residents] to make sure we did the right-of-way acquisition in a very thorough manner,” Lerner said.
The public comment process also led VDOT to incorporate lighting in its design for the planned bridge over I-495.
While VDOT has not identified a contractor yet, construction is expected to cost $8.5 million. The project’s total $13.4 million cost has been fully financed with funds from federal, state, and local sources.
Because the path is off-road, Lerner says the only significant traffic impacts will come when crews work on the bridge over the Beltway. Construction is expected to take a year, concluding in the summer of 2022.
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said in a statement that she is “delighted” that work on the shared-use path and pedestrian bridge will start this summer.
“This bridge will encourage walking and biking, save time, and reduce automobile traffic and carbon emissions,” Palchik said. “Residents won’t have to jump in their cars to drive and park at the mall, and I’m pleased that VDOT will be installing a lighted bridge. We are grateful to the Old Meadow Road neighborhood who worked with the engineering teams to transition the property and make this bridge happen.”
Image via VDOT
After a year off, ViVa Vienna will look quite different in 2021 — if it gets held at all.
Planning for the Town of Vienna’s annual Memorial Day festival has commenced, but with the COVID-19 pandemic still an unavoidable threat to any public gathering, many details remain up in the air, from exactly when and where it will be held to how to control attendance at the typically bustling event.
The Rotary Club of Vienna, which sponsors the festival, told the Vienna Town Council on Monday (Feb. 8) that it would like to hold ViVa Vienna around Memorial Day as usual. This year’s Memorial Day weekend falls on May 29-31.
However, organizers say it will not be feasible to move forward with the event if Virginia is still limiting fairs and other entertainment businesses to 250 people at that time.
“We’re still working through a lot of this,” Rotary Club of Vienna ViVa Vienna Committee Chair AJ Oskuie said. “If we have the number [at] 250, it just won’t work from an economic standpoint.”
As an alternative, the rotary club has proposed pushing ViVa Vienna back to the weekend of Oct. 16. Oskuie says that is the earliest possible date if Memorial Day weekend does not pan out, because the festival’s usual ride vendor, Cole Amusement Company, is booked until then.
Town officials noted that, while it would leave more time for the pandemic to get under control and restrictions on crowds to potentially lift, an October date would present its own challenges, both from a health standpoint with the cooler weather and a logistical one.
Vienna already hosts a Halloween parade and Oktoberfest that month, and if the 2022 ViVa Vienna returns to the normal May date, it would mean having the same event twice in one fiscal year, something the town has never done before.
“Those are big events,” Vienna Town Manager Mercury Payton said. “That’s the part that makes me wonder how it would affect staff. We can make that work, but that to me is a higher concern than the monetary piece.”
The Town of Vienna co-sponsors ViVa Vienna and provides staffing support for security, road closures, trash removal, and setting up the facilities. Vienna Finance Director Marion Serfass says the town spent about $43,000 to pay staff overtime for the last ViVa Vienna in 2019, though a two-day event would cost closer to $28,000.
Councilmember Nisha Patel noted that the festival has the advantage of being outdoors, which poses less of a risk for spreading COVID-19, but organizers will have to implement safety measures, like a mask requirement, regardless of when the event takes place.
Oskuie confirmed that enclosed amusements like a funhouse will not be included, and the festival might use food truck vendors instead of stalls so they can spread out, rather than stay confined to one location.
Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman recommended preventing crowds by moving the festivities to an area that can be fenced in with entrances and exits, and by requiring attendees to register for time slots.
An event plan has to be approved by the Fairfax County Health Department and Fire Marshal’s Office, along with the Vienna Parks and Recreation Department. Oskuie told the town council that the Rotary Club will deliver a status update on Mar. 1, with Apr. 5 as the deadline for making a final decision on how to handle the festival this year.
Despite the obstacles, Vienna officials expressed hope that ViVa Vienna will go on. In addition to drawing as many as 30,000 to 40,000 people every year, the festival typically generates about $175,000 in proceeds that the Rotary Club gives to local charities and community organizations.
“We just need to be cautiously optimistic. There are so many unknowns out there right now,” Councilmember Steve Potter said. “…Just take it one week at a time and see where we go, but we need it. The town needs the uplift. Everybody needs it right now, and I don’t think we should drop it.”
A new assisted living community is preparing to open its doors in the Vienna area.
Watermark Retirement Communities announced in a press release yesterday (Tuesday) that it will welcome tenants to The Providence Fairfax with a grand opening in March.
Located at 9490 Sprague Ave., The Providence is part of the MetroWest neighborhood just south of I-66 and the Vienna Metro station. It sits one-tenth of a mile down the road from The Atrium at MetroWest, a condominium complex for adults 55 and older run by Pulte Homes.
According to its website, The Providence features 100 assisted-living residences, along with 30 units for a memory care program designed to support residents with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and memory loss. There are also 24 units for residents in The Bridge program, which serves people who experience mild cognitive challenges.
“The Providence is perfect for anyone searching for the support and connection of a community accompanied by first-class amenities and unparalleled wellness and learning opportunities,” The Providence Executive Director Annamarie Mariani-Huehn said.
Seven stories tall with two floors of underground parking, the senior living complex is structured around a central courtyard. Amenities include a wellness center with a salon and spa, a fitness center, club rooms, a community room, and dining venues, such as a bistro and bar and a formal dining room with an open-hearth oven.
The residences take the form of private studio, one or two-bedroom apartments that are available for rent on a monthly basis. Prospective tenants can arrange tours for tours of the building by appointment.
The Providence is a collaboration with Silverstone Senior Living, which is also planning to bring senior housing to The Boro in Tysons. This is Watermark’s first community in Fairfax County, but the company has been working on a facility in Alexandria that its website says will open in early 2022.
The new senior living facility is the latest addition to the MetroWest development, which spans 56 acres from I-66 to Lee Highway and has been slowly emerging for more than a decade. Plans to bring more housing, retail, and office space to the community are still underway.
Photo courtesy Watermark Retirement Communities
CVS COVID-19 Vaccine Appointments Already Fully Booked — CVS is not scheduled to start appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine in Virginia until Friday (Feb. 12), but the available slots were quickly filled up after the registration system opened to state residents on Tuesday (Feb. 9). Only one CVS store in Fairfax County will receive doses in the initial rollout of the pharmacy’s partnership with the federal government. The Fairfax County Health Department says anyone who gets vaccinated by CVS or another provider should email the department to be taken off the county’s waitlist. [Inside NoVA, Fairfax County Health Department]
Virginia General Assembly Heads into Special Session — “Though the Virginia General Assembly technically adjourned on Monday with Republican members wanting to limit work to 30 days, Gov. Ralph Northam ordered a special session saying more time was needed to advance the state’s budget and pandemic relief efforts.” [WTOP]
McLean Eagle Scout Leads Blanket Drive — “For an Eagle Scout project, Eli Witkiewicz enlisted fellow members of Troop 1130 in McLean and their family members to make fleece blankets for Project Linus, a non-profit organization that provides handmade blankets to children in need.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
McLean-Based ID.me Partners with Fellow Identity Services Provider — “ID.me, a federally certified identity verification platform, and Sterling, a leading provider of identity and background services, today [Tuesday] announced the launch of an exclusive partnership that brings a powerful new identity service offering to the employment and screening space.” [ID.me]
Staff Photo by Jay Westcott
Electrify America has its sights set on the Town of Vienna as it embarks on ambitious plans to expand its national network of electric vehicle charging stations.
Specifically, the Reston-based subsidiary of Volkswagen would like to install a station with three or four chargers in the parking lot next to the Sunoco gas station at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Center Street.
After meeting with town staff on Sept. 4, Electrify America representatives presented the proposal to the Vienna Town Council during its conference session last night (Monday).
“We think it’s a good location, because while people are charging, they can walk to different shops,” Electrify America Mid-Atlantic Project Manager Ian Hostetler told the council. “We just think it’s a great amenity that would benefit the town and its citizens, and we’re hopeful we can make this work.”
Electrify America currently operates more than 2,000 electric vehicle chargers at 556 different sites in the U.S., including one in the parking garage of the Tysons West shopping center off of Route 7.
The company announced in August that it is working with Tysons Corner Center to bring a station to the mall sometime early this year as part of its plans to add 800 sites by the end of 2021.
This is not the first time that Electrify America has pursued projects in the Town of Vienna, which got its first electric vehicle chargers last year when Wawa opened with a Tesla station.
According to Hostetler, the company had a deal to bring electric vehicle chargers to the Bank of America lot at 235 Maple Avenue, but the town determined that, as an automobile service station, the utility is not permitted by the site’s “special commercial” zoning. A separate plan for chargers at Maple Avenue Shopping Center stalled when negotiations with property owner Washington Realty reached an impasse.
The parking lot now being eyed by Electrify America is owned by the Town of Vienna, but the company would have to clear a few hurdles to turn its pitch into a reality. Read More
McLean District police officers are now equipped with body-worn cameras after the Fairfax County Police Department recently rolled out the second phase of its program.
The FCPD announced yesterday (Monday) that it finished deploying body cameras to its McLean and Franconia District Stations last week, adding 218 trained and equipped camera operators to the county’s police force.
Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust welcomed the news of the program expansion in a statement to Tysons Reporter.
“I am pleased with the progress the Police Department is making toward full implementation,” Foust said. “While body worn cameras require a substantial initial investment and recurring cost, the cost is more than justified by the transparency and accountability the cameras provide.”
There are 132 sworn officers and 28 civilian staff members at the McLean District Station, which covers Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Falls Church, McLean, Tysons, and Great Falls. The Franconia District Station has approximately 140 officers and 30 civilians whose coverage area includes Annandale, Springfield, and Lorton.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the creation of a body camera program for the entire police department in September 2019 after introducing the technology with a pilot program in 2018.
Expected to take three years for full implementation, the program’s first year saw cameras distributed to the Reston, Mason, and Mount Vernon District stations, where all officers have been trained and utilizing the cameras since the spring of 2020. Those stations had also been included in the original pilot.
Budget constraints resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic led the Board of Supervisors to initially delay funding for the body camera program’s second phase, which was previously supposed to include 338 cameras for the McLean, Sully, and West Springfield stations.
However, the board later moved to accelerate the program’s rollout in an effort to prioritize policing reform in light of nationwide protests following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 25, 2020 and video of a Fairfax County police officer assaulting a Black man.
“As we have seen from many incidents across the country, these cameras are an indispensable tool for providing an accurate account of events that often are disputed by the parties involved,” Foust said. “Body worn cameras can protect our residents and our police officers by providing accurate accounts of police-civilian confrontations.”
Now aiming to introduce all 1,210 cameras in the program by the end of Fiscal Year 2021, the FCPD says it is coordinating scheduling to ensure that officers at the remaining Fair Oaks District, West Springfield District, and Sully District Stations are trained and equipped in the upcoming months.
The department is also working to expand the program to Animal Protection Police and parking enforcement officers as well as its special operations division and SWAT teams and the Diversion First initiative at the Merrifield Crisis Response Center.
The FCPD estimated in a presentation to the Board of Supervisors last June that it will cost a total of $4.5 million to implement the program’s second and third phases.
According to Jane Edmondson, the chief of staff for Foust’s office, the board identified net funding of $604,000 to cover the expansion of the body camera program as part of the FY 2021 budget carryover process. The program’s recurring impact is expected to be roughly $4.4 million, which must be incorporated in the FY 2022 budget.
County Executive Bryan Hill is scheduled to present his budget proposal on Feb. 23.
Photo via Fairfax County Police
Several local chambers of commerce have come out in favor of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s much-debated 495 NEXT project, which will extend the I-495 Express Lanes approximately three miles from the Dulles Toll Road interchange to the American Legion Bridge.
The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce announced its endorsement of the project yesterday (Monday). It was joined by the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce, as well as chambers representing Reston, Springfield, Mount Vernon, the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, and Prince William County.
The organizations, which represent businesses that collectively employ about 600,000 people across Northern Virginia, say expanding the 495 Express Lanes will help reduce one of the region’s biggest chokepoints and generally improve local travel conditions, particularly in the Tysons area and in between Virginia and Maryland.
“The I-495 expansion will bring a much-needed economic boost to the area and provide long-term economic benefits,” Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Julie Coons said. “It will also add new transit choices that will help attract more businesses and help existing businesses flourish.”
According to the NOVA Chamber of Commerce, the 495 NEXT project is expected to create an estimated 6,300 new jobs and generate $880 million in economic activity during its development and construction.
VDOT is currently waiting for the Federal Highway Administration to issue a decision on the project based on an environmental assessment that was released last February. If the assessment is approved, the state agency expects to issue a contract, finalize the design, and start construction later this year.
The 495 NEXT project is being developed in parallel with a Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation study of transit options for the I-495 and American Legion Bridge corridor. State officials have proposed expanding bus service between Northern Virginia, particularly Tysons, and Maryland, though a final report is not expected to come out until March.
“The expanded transit service will help Tysons reach its long-term goals to reduce congestion and increase accessibility for Tyson’s residents, businesses, employees, and consumers, improving our quality of life and economic outlook,” Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce President and Chairman Andrew Clark said.
VDOT says that the 495 NEXT project will enable 2,500 more people per hour to move through the corridor starting in 2025.
However, it would be able to move even more people if Maryland finishes its plans to introduce toll lanes on the American Legion Bridge, leading some to question why the timelines for the two projects are not aligned. The environmental assessment for Maryland’s managed toll lanes study is not scheduled to be completed until this fall.
Community members and public officials have also raised concerns about the project’s potential impact on surrounding neighborhoods and the environment, especially when it comes to water quality.
The chambers of commerce that have backed 495 NEXT say it is necessary to “set the stage” for improvements to the American Legion Bridge, which currently sees over 230,000 trips per day.
“For years, neighborhoods in McLean have been inundated by cut-through regional commuters seeking to avoid the endemic Beltway backups approaching the American Legion Bridge,” Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce President Paul Kohlenberger said. “495 NEXT will alleviate this cut-through traffic, increase travel time reliability, and offer additional travel choices to the residents, customers and workers of the Greater McLean area.”
Photo via Google Maps
Pop-Up Florist Coming to Mosaic District — The clothing retailer Anthropologie (2910 District Ave., Suite 100) is hosting a Valentine’s Day pop-up with the florist Studio Fleuraison from 12-4 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 13). Purchases can be made in the store or as pre-orders. [Mosaic District/Twitter]
Fairfax County School Board Approves CIP — The Fiscal Year 2022-2026 Capital Improvement Program includes construction of a Dunn Loring Elementary School, partial funding for a Silver Line Elementary School, the James Madison High School addition, and renovations for four schools in the Tysons area. The school board approved the package when it met on Thursday (Feb. 4). [FCPS]
Sunrise Senior Living Names New CEO — “Sunrise Senior Living, the McLean company that operates more than 330 senior living facilities, has named Jack Callison Jr. its new CEO. Callison replaces Chris Winkle, who said in December he would step down after more than six years in the role.” [Washington Business Journal]
Fairfax Health District Hiring for Pandemic Response — The Fairfax County Health Department is looking to hire 100 individuals to support its COVID-19 vaccination and pandemic response efforts. Open positions include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses that would join the vaccination team on a part-time, temporary basis. [Fairfax County Health Department]
Fairfax County Public School Trains Teachers for Concurrent Learning — Teachers at Holmes Middle School are learning how to use technology that will enable them to work with in-person and online students at the same time. The training is preparing them for about half of the school’s students to return for in-person instruction on Feb. 16. [ABC7-WJLA]
Photo via Beyond DC/Flickr
