Morning Notes

State Legislators Plan Town Hall on Casino — Sen. Jennifer Boysko, Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra and other Fairfax County representatives will hold a town hall at McLean High School tomorrow (Saturday) “to hear public concerns and comments” about the bill to allow a casino in Fairfax County. The legislation won’t get a vote this year, but it “will re-emerge during the 2025 General Assembly Session and can be voted on by the Senate.” [Jennifer Boysko]

County Library Marks 85th Birthday — “We are incredibly proud of how far we have come in providing access to books, programming and other resources in the last 85 years. We have a lot planned by way of celebrating this milestone so we hope you join us, not only as we look back, but also as we look forward to what we can achieve in the many years to come.” [Fairfax County Public Library]

New Street Landscaping Requirements Adopted — “The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 23 adopted changes to the Zoning Ordinance on landscaping. The amendment increases the requirement for landscaping in parking lots, adds provisions on street frontage landscaping, establishes shade structure requirements for parking lots, and makes other changes.” [Annandale Today]

Why N. Va. Population Growth Is Slowing — “Virginia is seeing its slowest population growth since the Civil War thanks to steep costs, remote work and declining birth rates…Richmond and Bristol continue to grow, while Northern Virginia continues to decline. Lombard told WTOP that housing and remote work are the drivers of this.” [WTOP]

Local Office Buildings Declining in Value — Brandywine Realty Trust reported on an earnings call that four of its office properties in the D.C. area collectively lost $115 million during the fourth quarter of 2023. The properties weren’t named, but the firm said three of them are in Northern Virginia and one in Maryland. Brandywine has 14 office buildings in Fairfax County, including ones in McLean, Herndon and Fair Lakes. [Washington Business Journal]

Lincolnia Stream Under Restoration — “The restoration of a section of Turkeycock Run in Lincolnia is expected to be completed in May. The project consists of stabilizing the stream banks using natural channel design beginning at the culvert under Little River Turnpike and extending approximately 300 feet downstream, says Sharon North of the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.” [Annandale Today]

Falls Church Seeks Artists to Decorate Utility Boxes — “The City of Falls Church welcomes artwork submissions from local graphic designers and artists for four electrical box wraps. Select artists (up to a maximum of four) will be awarded $1,250.00. The submission deadline is February 9, 2024, at 5 p.m.” [City of Falls Church]

Vienna Embraces Cloud to Secure Financial System — “In an effort to boost cybersecurity, the Vienna Town Council on Jan. 29 unanimously agreed to have Tyler Technologies move its software for the town’s financial system to the ‘cloud’…If the town suffers a cyber-attack, the cloud-based system will provide backup for the financial system and reduce the amount of downtime involved, officials said.” [Gazette Leader]

It’s Friday — There is a 20% chance of brief showers before 1pm, followed by mostly cloudy skies and a high temperature near 49 degrees. Winds will come from the north at 6-14 mph, gusting up to 21 mph. Friday night, expect partly cloudy conditions with a low of around 31 degrees and a 10 mph north wind. [Weather.gov]