The future home of the temporary police station was a hot-button topic at the Vienna Town Council meeting last Monday (Jan. 3).
Vienna Police Chief Jim Morris gave updates on proposed community impact and general plan details before the council voted unanimously to designate both town-owned properties at 114 Locust Street SW and 440 Beulah Road NE for public use.
At the meeting, Morris addressed concern from the public, quelling fears that traffic would increase on Locust Street since the facility will not be open to the public — therefore no added traffic will be coming to the area.
People arrested around the town will be brought to another facility, and people with walk-in complaints will be directed to another office.
Other major concerns about the property included stormwater management, which has historically been an issue on the property, according to councilmembers.
“I can never go on [the] record saying we are going to fix the issue,” Morris said, adding that the stormwater plan is a larger issue. Morris did say that they will do their best to manage the problem.
Michael Gallagher, the director of public works in Vienna, said at the meeting that improvements with the water drainage system at 114 Locust Street SW could also improve the stormwater management system for adjacent lots depending on the slant and placement.
Stormwater wasn’t the only issue — Councilmember Howard Springsteen expressed concerns over safety, especially for police car parking.
“Secure parking is critical — I know someone tried to bomb police cars years ago,” he said at the meeting.
Now, the police department will be meeting with the town’s Planning Commission to discuss plans before bringing finalized documents back to the council.
“We are already moving forward with planning and zoning,” Morris said, adding that representatives from the police station have a work session scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 12). Morris said he also met with planners last Friday (Feb. 7).
Plans are already 80-90% complete, according to Morris, who added that there is still room for input from interest groups, such as neighbors to the property and councilmembers.
Town councilmembers, including Douglas Noble, expressed concern that the plans might be getting ahead of themselves before going through the proper public scrutiny.
“I want to make sure there is enough slack in the schedule,” Noble said.
Image via Town of Vienna
Here are the latest stories about the Tysons area that the Tysons Reporter team has been reading:
Library Displays History of St. John’s Episcopal Church — “Throughout the month of February, a display at Dolley Madison Library in McLean is featuring St. John’s Episcopal Church. The display illustrates the church’s history and close relationship with the community of McLean and presents a newly published book recounting the church’s first 150 years.” [Patch]
Falls Church Facing Cardboard Congestion — “A cardboard pile up at the Gordon Road recycling center has more to do with the excesses of the holiday season than negligence on the part of City of Falls Church residents. The City will also soon test out moving glass recyclables from the curb to a central location as it joins the regional effort to dispose of the waste in a more effective manner.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Pedestrian Gets Foot Run Over — “A pedestrian was walking westbound on the sidewalk in front of the entrance of a parking lot at 431 Maple Ave., W., on Feb. 1 at 5:50 p.m. when a vehicle approached the entrance and the driver motioned for the pedestrian to walk across, police said.” [Inside NoVA]
Final countdown until @ShowPlaceICON opens their doors and we can enjoy these heated recliners! We are just weeks away!📽️ 🍿 pic.twitter.com/Fn7mIzcFvN
— The Boro (@TheBoroTysons) January 27, 2020
Have a great Tuesday and look out for Morning Notes again on Friday.
After a series of vandalisms and an assault, the owner of Skorpio’s Maggio’s Greek Family Restaurant is unsure why she has been the target.
The restaurant was vandalized about half of a dozen times this winter, and owner Sherry Maggio was the victim of an assault in January by a man who spat at her and threw hot coffee on her, according to Vienna police reports.
Though a 34-year-old man was arrested and charged with simple assault and battery, Vienna police are still investigating the vandalism incidents, according to the police department.
In one incident, ketchup was smeared on the windows of the restaurant and the restaurant’s van, while in another incident, “tire slime” was put on the sidewalk, furniture and statue in front of the restaurant, according to Vienna police reports.
A police spokesperson said the department doesn’t understand the motive behind the vandalism.
“It’s kind of strange,” the spokesperson said. “The owners are really nice… I can’t imagine why someone would do that.”
After the assault, the man charged with the crime posted inflammatory comments about Maggio on his Instagram accounts, calling her names, accusing her of lying to the police and claiming he can get away with anything because he has connections within the court system.
A police spokesperson declined to say whether or they have a suspect for the vandalism cases, saying that the incidents are currently under investigation.
The police department is trying to review video footage, the spokesperson said.
Though the vandalism incidents haven’t caused monetary damages, clean-up has taken significant time and labor, Maggio said, adding that she is worried about similar incidents happening in the future.
“It took my guys almost an hour to scrub everything off the sidewalk,” she said about the incident involving the tire slime.
Maggio said she is keeping track of details and evidence with the incidents, so she’ll have a paper trail.
Photo via Google Maps
Vienna police arrested a 28-year-old man who allegedly was drunk and harassing a customer at Zenola.
The incident happened shortly after 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Police said that an employee at the Mediterranean restaurant asked the man to leave the premises when he started harassing a customer.
“The man was later found lying in the alley behind the business,” police said. “Officers responded with rescue personnel and determined the man was intoxicated.”
The man, who is from Magarity Road in Falls Church, “became disorderly with the rescue personnel while they were assessing him and treating a minor injury,” police said.
He was arrested for being drunk in public and was transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
In a separate incident, Vienna police said a Jammin Java employee reported that someone vandalized the front patio area with paint. The incident happened between 6:30-8:38 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1.
Photo via Zenola/Facebook
To get ready for summer platform work, WMATA is closing several Orange Line stations this weekend, affecting riders in Vienna, Falls Church and Merrifield.
Riders can expect trains every 16 minutes between the West Falls Church and New Carrollton stations with additional trains between Ballston and New Carrollton from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 8), according to WMATA’s website.
Free shuttle buses will replace trains at the Vienna, Dunn Loring and East Falls Church stations.
The bus routes will be:
- between East Falls Church and Ballston
- between Vienna, Dunn Loring and West Falls Church
- express bus between Vienna and West Falls Church
Riders can expect trains to single track through the East Falls Church station. The West Falls Church station will stay open.
“Customers on Ballston-bound Orange Line trains who are continuing on to West Falls Church should exit the train at Virginia Square for a same platform transfer,” according to the website.
Vienna Town Councilmember Douglas Noble announced earlier this week that he plans to retire after his current term ends.
Noble was first elected to Town Council in May 2016, according to his town bio. His term expires on June 30.
Noble told the Town Council on Monday that he’s been helping with mom’s knee replacement rehabilitation, along with assisting his wife with an aunt who has Alzheimer’s disease and helping dad publish a photography book.
“I note this not without a touch of irony, considering last week I was accused of being ageist and discriminatory by a member of a public,” Noble said. “And I guess public officials should simply accept that people attack us personally.”
Noble has several things he’d like to see the Town Council accomplish in the next two years.
“I need to get the zoning code update right and we need to get it finished,” Noble said, adding that he also wants to see updates to the comprehensive plan.
He said he’d also like the town’s performance dashboard to be online and move projects and studies forward more quickly.
“And lastly, in the next couple years — four years, 10 years — we need to have a real conversation about this small town thing,” Noble said. “We need to come to grips with the idea that we haven’t really been a small town since the 1950s.”
Noble said some of the highlights of his time on the council have included the Vienna Community Center getting finished, the new police station started, expanded community events and added town positions.
Noble’s announcement means that at least three new faces will join the council later this year.
Councilmembers Pasha Majdi, Howard Springsteen and Linda Colbert are running for Mayor Laurie DiRocco’s seat.
The terms for Majdi and Colbert both expire this year, while Springsteen’s current term ends next year.
Councilmembers Nisha Patel and Steve Potter’s terms expire in 2021.
Image via Town of Vienna
As WMATA looks ahead to summer Metro repairs, more details have been revealed about the Orange Line closures that will impact riders in Northern Virginia.
Beginning May 27, the Vienna, Dunn Loring and East Falls Church stations will be closed, according to a WMATA presentation at a Falls Church City Council meeting earlier this week, which added that the Silver Line from McLean to Wiehle-Reston East will also be affected.
Crews will update slip-resistant tiles, LED lighting, add new large digital displays and build new shelters on the platforms during the closures, WMATA representatives said at the meeting.
WMATA representatives also said free buses will replace trains at each of the affected stations and riders can expect the closures to last through Sept. 7.
Summer was chosen as the ideal time for the project because ridership is down slightly during that time of the year, the representatives said.
“We found it was really much more efficient when we use longer extended periods (of closures),” one representative added, compared to completing updates at night or over weekends.
During closures, four bus routes will offer riders alternative options:
- from Vienna to West Falls Church
- from Dunn Loring to West Falls Church
- from East Falls Church to Ballston
- from Rosslyn, then to Courthouse before stopping at Ballston and finally to Vienna
There will also be added on-demand shuttles from Vienna to Dunn Loring and West Falls Church to East Falls Church.
The presentation also mentioned that Silver Line trains from McLean to Wiehle-Reston will stop at each station but run on a reduced schedule.
Riders can expect the West Falls Church station to remain open but with single-tracking and for trains to go through — but not stop at — the East Falls Church station.
There will also be a variety of Metro Buses, ART Buses and Fairfax Connector Buses that will also be affected, according to the presentation.
Image (2) via City of Falls Church
To celebrate its 60th birthday, the Vienna Inn plans to host a range of community events, a spokesperson said.
Festivities began with a Kids’ Night on Monday (Feb. 3) at 120 E. Maple Ave, which featured a special menu, giveaways, activities, prizes and a photo booth, according to the event Facebook page.
There will be another Kids’ Night event on Monday (Feb. 10), the spokesperson said, adding the event will run from 5:30-7 p.m.
“A lot of our customers are like me and have been coming here since they were kids just like their parents,” Marty Volk, the owner of the Vienna Inn, said in a press release. “There are often three generations at a table on any given day.”
The spokesperson told Tysons Reporter that the location will add a few new menu items including barbecue ribs, healthy breakfast items, chicken sandwiches and breadsticks.
Every Tuesday, the location will host rib nights, where people can find deals on ribs and drinks.
Next Friday (Feb. 14), the eatery is hosting a Valentine’s Day party for families, according to a Facebook event. Perks include a gift for mothers, deals on wings after 5 p.m. and a treat for kids too.
The location also has “something big planned” for National Chili Day on Feb. 27, according to a press release, which added that the eatery usually serves more than 10,000 chili dogs a month.
Between first dates and bonding time with family members, the spokesperson said the community has strong ties to the eatery and owners will be hosting a Memorabilia Night, where people can bring in items of nostalgic value.
Though dates and more information hasn’t been released yet, the spokesperson said people can keep tabs on the Facebook page for dates.
Photo via the Vienna Inn/Facebook
Fairfax County police have arrested a former Westbriar Elementary School employee for alleged financial crimes.
Police said in a press release today (Monday) that Adebisi Ogun “misappropriated credit card funds and forged the principal’s signature on checks for her personal use over a period of one year while Ogun worked as an administrative assistant” at the Vienna school.
“Detectives began their investigation in August 2018 after school officials became aware of fraudulent credit card activity,” police said. “After a thorough investigation, detectives obtained arrest warrants in Sept. 2018.”
Ogun, 29 from New York, was arrested in New York on Jan. 15 and extradited to Fairfax County, police said. Ogun has been charged with embezzlement, forgery and uttering.
Vienna police are investigating a variety of recent crimes — from ice cream cake theft to alleged fraud.
Juan Vazquez, a spokesperson for the Vienna Police Department, told Tysons Reporter that a 10-inch ice cream cake was swiped from Dairy Queen (304 Maple Avenue W.) on Tuesday (Jan. 28).
An employee at the Dairy Queen told police that two men came to the store around 3:30 p.m. that day and fled with the cake they had taken from the freezer, according to the police report.
The cake was white with red icing and cost $24.99, Vazquez said, adding that the suspects are described as “two black males, ages 50-60.” Vazquez said that the men left in a car.
In a separate incident, Vienna police are looking for whoever broke the lock on a shed and damaged property belonging to the Vienna Little League in Yeonas Park (1319 Ross Drive SW).
Police say the unlawful entry happened sometime between 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26, and noon on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Vazquez said that green powder was thrown onto the equipment in the shed and contents of trash cans were emptied onto the private property.
“Someone’s got to clean all the stuff,” Vazquez said, adding that he didn’t know if he powder caused permanent damage or not to the equipment.
Vienna police are investigating a report of fraud that happened after a female resident went to pay the family’s mortgage with a check at the PNC Bank (353 Maple Avenue).
“She gave the check to a female at the bank” around 3 p.m. on Dec. 23, the police report said.
An employee from Burke & Herbert, the bank which the couple holds an account with, noticed that the check had been made cashed outside of Virginia and was made payable to a person instead of the mortgage company, the report said.
The Vienna Police Department was contacted on Jan. 10, when the woman and her husband were informed their payment was never received, according to police.
A spokesperson from the Vienna Police Department said no one has been arrested in association with the case yet and declined to provide more information on the incident because it is an active investigation.
Tysons Reporter reached out to PNC Bank but has not received a response yet.
Ashley Hopko and Catherine Douglas Moran contributed reporting
Image (1) via Google Maps, image (2) via Google Maps
