Phase 2 of COVID-19 Vaccinations Begins — Fairfax County officially entered Phase 2 of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout yesterday, making everyone 16 and older eligible. With the county retiring its registration system, appointments can be scheduled directly with providers through VaccineFinder, though limited supplies means they might be initially hard to come by. [Fairfax County Health Department/Twitter]
Man Found Dead in Bailey’s Crossroads — An Alexandria resident has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder after a man was found dead around 3:30 a.m. in a parking garage in the 5100 block of Leesburg Pike in Baileys Crossroads. Hernan Leiva, 58, of Falls Church had apparent stab wounds and blunt force trauma to his upper body. [FCPD]
Descano Seeks to Vacate Convictions by Fairfax County Police Officer — “Fairfax County prosecutors are moving to throw out more than 400 criminal convictions based on the testimony or work of a former patrol officer who is accused of stealing drugs from the police property room, planting drugs on innocent people and stopping motorists without legal basis, court filings show.” [The Washington Post]
Pharmacy Workers Sentenced for $8 Million Fraud — Six people have been sentenced to prison for healthcare fraud that involved paying and receiving kickbacks and billing health care benefit programs for expensive, unnecessary drugs and equipment. One defendant owned several pharmacies in Northern Virginia, including the now-closed Medex Health Pharmacy in Merrifield. [U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia]
Park Road in McLean Closed for Pipe Replacement — “Park Road between Kirby Road and Old Dominion Drive, and Vermont Avenue between Massachusetts Avenue and Park Road will be closed to through traffic, weather permitting, from 7 a.m. Monday, April 19 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, and then have daily closures Wednesday, April 21 through Friday, April 23 and Monday, April 26 through Tuesday, April 27 to replace a stormwater pipe.” [VDOT]
George Mason High School Demolition Still Underway — “As the demolition of the OLD George Mason H.S. continues, the old Science Wing and Facilities Shop is no more.” [FCCPS Office of Facilities Services/Twitter]
The weekend is almost here. Before you start reading up on how Vaccine Finder works or head to bed for some much-needed sleep, let’s revisit recent news from the Tysons area that you might’ve missed from the past week.
These were the most-read stories on Tysons Reporter this week:
- Fairfax County sees rising COVID-19 cases with one-fifth of Virginia now vaccinated
- BREAKING: Fairfax County Health Department will not schedule Phase 2 vaccine appointments
- McLean Citizens Association opposes most recent draft of downtown revitalization plan
- Second Tysons Restaurant Week kicks off Monday
- A guide to Fairfax County farmers markets opening this spring
Ideas for stories we should cover can be sent to [email protected] or submitted as an anonymous tip. Photos of scenes from around the community are welcome too, with credit always given to the photographer.
You can find previous rundowns of top stories on the site.
Photo via La Sandia/Facebook
The former Lord & Taylor store at Tysons Corner Center will serve as a large-scale COVID-19 vaccination site for Fairfax County starting on Tuesday (April 20).
The Fairfax County Health Department announced today (Friday) that the new Community Vaccination Center is being organized by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and Virginia Department of Health and will be operated by the disaster response companies AshBritt and IEM, which are both under contract with VDEM.
Fairfax County is providing support to the state on the site through its health department and Office of Emergency Management.
Located at 1961 Chain Bridge Road, this will be Fairfax County’s first mass COVID-19 vaccine site, though Inova set up a large-scale facility in the City of Alexandria that is open to Fairfax County residents.
“We are excited that we can offer our residents another large-scale COVID-19 vaccination site, this time in the Tysons area, which is easily accessed by several bus routes and located within walking distance of the Tysons Corner Metro station along the Silver Line,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said in a statement.
According to McKay, the Tysons Corner site will be able to vaccinate about 3,000 individuals per day.
“Paired with the other sites we have throughout the county, [this] will greatly impact Fairfax’s vaccination rates and move us closer to herd immunity,” he said.
The county says that it will initially partner with the community vaccination center to finish giving first-dose vaccinations to the remaining individuals on its registration waitlist from Phase 1. As of 2:30 p.m. today, there are about 22,600 people on the waitlist.
The site will subsequently be listed on Vaccine Finder as an available option for all individuals 16 and older to schedule an appointment. Fairfax County plans to join the rest of Virginia in opening vaccine eligibility to the general adult population in Phase 2 on Sunday (April 18).
The county announced earlier this week that it will retire its own registration system once Phase 2 begins. Anyone who hasn’t joined the waitlist by Sunday will use Vaccine Finder to locate available sites and then schedule their appointment directly with the provider, an approach that county officials say will give people more options and flexibility.
Individuals will also be able to contact Fairfax County’s new call center system 703-324-7404 or Virginia’s call center at 1-877-829-4682 for assistance in obtaining a vaccine appointment.
The pace of vaccinations is expected to initially slow down when Fairfax County and all other jurisdictions in Virginia enter Phase 2, due to both the influx of newly eligible individuals and the indefinite halt in distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
McKay reported in a newsletter last night (Thursday) that Fairfax County expects to receive just 30,000 doses per week for the next few weeks before supplies increase again later in the spring and summer.
As a comparison, the county health department got 65,710 first and second doses from the Virginia Department of Health for the week of April 5-11, according to its vaccine data dashboard.
“The high demand for vaccination in Fairfax County combined with the available vaccine supply will continue to be a challenge, especially in the initial weeks of Phase 2,” McKay said. “With patience and care, we will get everyone vaccinated.”
The Falls Church City Council has set in stone its commitment to public art in the Little City.
City council members voted unanimously on Monday (April 12) to amend Falls Church’s comprehensive plan by adding a section supporting public art and establishing a public arts district. Now, staff will turn their attention to hammering out the details needed to carry out this committment.
The vote culminates about a year of work that involved various city groups that reviewed the policy and consultants from the University of Virginia who helped craft it, city planner Emily Bazemore said.
The proposed arts and cultural district will include commercial areas, public facilities, parks, and houses of worship, but it will not apply to residences. The map below shows where permanent and temporary art installations could be located.
Funding remains an open question for now.
Falls Church City already has a Arts & Humanities Grant Program that receives $44,000 in contributions from the city and $4,500 from the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
The program mostly funds operational expenses and programming, but nonprofit groups can apply for grants, city spokeswoman Susan Finarelli says. The grants are capped at $5,000 and conferred with the understanding that projects must be completed within the fiscal year.
“This is probably too small an amount for public art projects,” Finarelli said, adding that one fiscal year is “a quick turnaround time for public art.”
Councilmember Letty Hardi, who sits on the Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church, said the city should consider whether it wants to use this grant program or seek out a different funding source. The program has not contributed to many installations, according to Hardi, who has raised questions about funding mechanisms in the past.
“If we want to implement these recommendations, we’re going to have to think about dollars against it too,” she said.
The comprehensive plan amendment recommends that the city devote annual funding from its operating or capital improvements budget to commissioning art or paying for arts-related festivals and events. It also has language for working with the private sector to include public art in development projects or provide monetary contributions to a public art fund.
“The funding will be considered later,” Finarelli said. “That may come in the form of a new grant program, or perhaps change the existing Arts and Humanities grant program. City staff will consider options and make a proposal to City Council. We do not yet have a timeline on that.”
In the meantime, projects like the West Falls development have committed to supporting public art in those spaces.
As part of the new public arts policy, the city will also launch a registry of local artists. This yet-t0-exist registry could live on the Arts and Humanities Council website, which would be responsible for updating it, Bazemore suggested.
“It’s a long-term strategy,” the city planner said. “It would track different artists who submit interest in working with the city from Northern Virginia or the D.C. area.”
Councilmember Marybeth Connelly had a number of questions about the registry and how it would be maintained but indicated an interest in the concept.
“I do appreciate the direction this is going, and I’m glad that we are going to move forward and be able to identify this arts and cultural district,” she said.
Images via City of Falls Church
If you’re in the market to buy a house in the Tysons, McLean and Vienna areas, you’ve got options to explore.
According to Homesnap, there are 110 homes for sale, with a median list price of $$479,900.
Here are a few open houses taking place this weekend:
7302 Peter Place, McLean
4 BD/4.5+ BA single-family home
Listed: $2,100,000
Open: Sunday, 1-4 p.m.
1848 Macarthur Drive, McLean
4 BD/4.5 BA single-family home
Listed: $1,499,900
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.
1437 Brookhaven Drive, McLean
4 BD/3 BA single-family home
Listed: $1,099,000
Open: 2-4 p.m.
308 Valeview Court NW, Vienna
4 BD/2.5 BA single-family home
Listed: $850,000
Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m.
1123 Moorefield Hill Court SW, Vienna
3 BD/3.5 BA townhome
Listed: $580,000
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.
Photo via Tim Mossholder/Unsplash
It’s time for Fairfax Water’s annual flush, meaning the fire hydrants are flowing and the water might smell a little funny.
Every year, water companies flush their systems in order to clean out and remove sediment from water mains and pipes that have accumulated. This sediment occurs from internal corrosion as well as natural build-ups of iron and manganese.
It also ensures that chlorine contraction levels, which disinfect the water, remain steady since chlorine degrades in water over time.
The flush involves opening up fire hydrants and allowing water to flow freely. It may look like wasting water, but it ensures that sentiment, chlorine, and other materials are flushed out.
During this short period of time, Fairfax Water switches from using combined chlorine to free chlorine as their primary disinfectant.
Most of the year, combined chlorine — or chloramines — are used to treat drinking water. Produced by a chemical reaction between chlorine and ammonia, it’s not as effective as free chlorine in disinfecting water, but it can stay in the water longer.
Free chlorine acts faster than combined chloring to break up sediment, but degrades in a shorter period of time.
The use of free chlorine can also lead to the water tasting and smelling funny.
So, if you are taking a big gulp out of the tap and it tastes like pool water, that’s why.
If you or someone in your household is particularly sensitive to this taste and smell, storing an open container of drinking water in the refrigerator will allow the chlorine to dissipate.
Drinking water does have a shelf life, though, so it should be switched out regularly.
At the levels used in drinking water, both combined and free chlorine are considered safe by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Environmental Protection Agency .
All of this flushing began at the end of March and is expected to run until June 14 for most of Fairfax County.
Nearly 2 million people in Northern Virginia get their water from Fairfax Water, including nearly all of the county and the towns of Vienna and Herndon. It is Virginia’s largest water utility company and one of the 25 largest in the country.
Both Herndon and Vienna get their water “wholesale” from the company, meaning a third party or utility has the right to distribute water but not have the capability to treat their own water.
The Town of Vienna runs its own flushing program in coordination with Fairfax Water. This year’s water main flush began on March 26 and will run through May 21 from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day.
Fairfax Water also highly encourages commercial and residential property owners to flush their system if they’ve had to shut it down for an extended period of time during the COVID-19 pandemic. A thorough flushing is needed to clean out water that may have been sitting dormant in plumbing.
Water that remains stagnant for as little as two days can have mold, leeching, and other hazards in it that can lead to illness.
Photo by Pan Xiaozhen on Unsplash
Lane Closed on Old Meadow Road Today — “The left lane of Old Meadow Road heading toward Route 123 will be closed for several hours beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, April 16, to permit minor asphalt repairs. This work was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 3.” [Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project]
Tension over Alleged Racism at Football Game Continues — Wakefield High School community members issued a letter on Wednesday (April 14) calling for a formal apology from Marshall High School in relation to a March 5 football game where players allegedly used racial slurs. Marshall’s coaching staff and parents have disputed that account, but some students recently released a statement criticizing their school for its handling of the incident. [Patch]
D.C. Airport Unveils New Addition — “After nearly 25 years, officials at Reagan National Airport on Thursday unveiled a much-anticipated addition, a sleek 14-gate concourse that will mark the end of operations of the much-maligned Gate 35X.” [The Washington Post]
Falls Church City Too Small for Retail Shopping — Even as Falls Church pursues a sizable mixed-use developments, Councilmember Ross Litkenhous says the city lacks the foot traffic or surface parking needed to attract retail merchants like Urban Outfitters or Macys. The city’s proximity to Tysons and Merrifield, though, means that residents still have many options nearby. [Falls Church News-Press]
Fairfax County residents will soon book COVID-19 vaccine appointments through Vaccine Finder instead of the county health department, a change that officials say will “allow greater flexibility and choice of where residents receive their vaccine.”
The health department announced last night (April 14) that it will no longer manage or accept appointments through their registration system after Fairfax County moves to Phase 2 on Sunday (April 18).
The county says the new system will lead to greater access, choice, and awareness of vaccine availability as it moves to vaccinating all residents over the age of 16.
“The Open Scheduling process allows easier access to vaccine sites closer to home,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Jeff McKay told Tysons Reporter in an email.
Developed by Boston Children’s Hospital, Vaccine Finder shows available doses from approved vaccine providers across the county, including the health department clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, and some private practices, according to the Fairfax County Health Department’s blog.
Information about the switch will be disseminated in a variety of ways, says county officials, including their blog posts, social media, English and Spanish text alerts, countywide mailers, flyers, news media, and working with the county’s outreach team.
While the Vaccine Finder is not available in other languages, McKay says the county will film videos in “at least 7 different languages” explaining how to use the system. They are also encouraging folks to change their web browser settings to their desired language.
Residents will also be able to contact the county and Virginia Department of Health call centers to get assistance when registering for a vaccination.
Earlier this week, the county implemented a new call center system (703-324-7404) that will assist residents in registering in the new appointment system. However, the county warns that wait times for callers could be long.
Fairfax County residents can also now call the state call center (1-877-829-4682) for help in multiple languages. McKay says this gives residents “an additional resource,” since the state previously routed calls about Fairfax County back to the county’s call center, which is still available to provide help in multiple languages.
The county health department says that it will still schedule appointments for everyone who is registered in their system and on the waitlist (i.e. individuals who were eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1) prior to the system closing at 11:59 p.m. on April 17.
They should expect to be contacted within approximately a week about scheduling their appointments.
As of 3:30 p.m. today, there are 24,059 people on the waitlist. Read More
(Updated at 2:10 p.m.) Officially, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors endorsed the I-495 extension of the express lanes on Tuesday (April 13), but the discussion leading up to that vote showed that some officials closest to the project still have reservations.
Supervisor John Foust, representing the Dranesville District that would ostensibly stand the most to gain from the project called 495 NEXT, said the project only addresses half the problem and, without the other half, could only worsen an already miserable bottleneck.
“I’ve lived with the horrible congestion caused by backups at the American Legion Bridge and I’ve supported widening or replacement of the bridge,” Foust said. “But without the Maryland project, 495 NEXT worsens traffic in the general portion lanes…Until the American Legion Bridge is widened, these adverse impacts are far greater than any public benefit.”
The plan would add new express lanes from 495’s intersection with the Dulles Toll Road up to the American Legion Bridge, where the plan was to connect with similar lanes on the Maryland-owned bridge and onto the Maryland side of the beltway. Foust’s frustration comes from Maryland dragging its heels on the project despite an earlier pledged commitment to widening.
Foust said that, as recently as December, the Board agreed that VDOT should only consider further action on widening once Maryland executed a comprehensive agreement with a developer to fulfill their half of the project.
“Of course that hasn’t happened, nothing significant has happened since December to justify us reversing our opinion,” Foust said. “I want to make it clear, I think it’s a mistake. Going forward without agreement from Maryland is exposing us to worsening impacts.”
But Fairfax County has faced mounting pressure to endorse 495 NEXT, most recently from Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine. Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay and others on the board described the endorsement as a good-faith move on Fairfax’s part.
“We don’t entirely control the schedule here,” McKay said. “There are some signfiicant benefits to this project. Everyone is familiar with the gridlock that Foust has explained…We’re close to a guarantee that Maryland is making significant progress.”
“This is a chance for Fairfax County to be a leader,” Supervisor Pat Herrity agreed, “and I think this encourages Maryland to move forward.”
The endorsement passed in a 8 to 2 vote, with Foust and Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn voting against it. The new lanes are scheduled to open to traffic in 2024.
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