(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Fairfax County first responders were sent to an incorrect address during a 911 call for a cardiac arrest incident at the Reston Town Center Metro station yesterday (Tuesday), leading to a delay in the response.

Based on information provided by Metro, the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications dispatched emergency crews to 1901 Reston Metro Plaza — an address next to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, reported local public safety watcher Dave Statter.

Personnel then received an address change about 10 minutes later directing them to 12023 Sunset Hills Road, the north pavilion for the Reston Town Center station about two miles away, according to Statter.

A county spokesperson provided the following statement to FFXnow, confirming that there was a mix-up in the address:

On March 21 the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC) received a call from the Washington Metropolitans Area Transit Authority (WMATA) via the non-emergency phone line at 09:06:59 reporting a cardiac arrest at the Wiehle Metro Station. DPSC dispatched Fairfax County Fire and Rescue (FRD) to the incident at 09:08:45. The first unit arrived at the dispatched location at 09:13:10. This was identified as the incorrect location by responding personnel. Working together, FRD and DPSC redirected resources to the correct location, Reston Metro Station and arrived on the incident scene at 09:19:29.

The man later died at a hospital, according to the report.

Ian Jannetta, spokesperson for WMATA, said the organization is investigating the incident.

“Metro addresses a number of medical emergencies related to customers daily,” Janetta said. “We are looking into our response to this incident and how we can improve our efforts in the future. Our deepest sympathies are extended to our customer and their family.”

Statter says this isn’t the first time WMATA provided an incorrect address in the past.

WMATA confirmed that its control center initially gave an incorrect station address to the county fire department, noting that Metro workers were administering CPR before emergency responders arrived.

“It was rectified with Fairfax EMS during the response to the incident during which time CPR was being provided prior to their arrival,” Janetta said. “We are verifying all station addresses systemwide to ensure our control centers and jurisdictional partners have the correct information.”

(1) @fairfaxcounty confirms @WMATA gave the wrong address for the Reston Town Center #Metro Station. It delayed fire & EMS getting to a man in cardiac arrest. That man died. How did this mistake occur? #WMATA isn't saying but it fits a pattern. (more) @wmatagm pic.twitter.com/19I8QDdiI3

— Dave Statter (@STATter911) March 22, 2023

By the end of the March, the COVID-19 pandemic will no longer be declared an emergency in the Town of Herndon.

The move follows efforts by neighboring jurisdictions to end formalized states of emergency.

“All emergency actions in response to COVID-19 have been taken and the public health emergency triggered by COVID-19 has diminished to the point that it no longer necessitates a state of local emergency and disaster,” the draft resolution says.

Fairfax County voted unanimously last month to end its state of emergency on March 1, marking a major public health milestone. Loudoun County, Prince William, Alexandria, and Arlington all took that step last year to end their states of emergency.

Here’s more from town spokeswoman Anne Curtis:

Like other jurisdictions, the COVID pandemic triggered the town’s enactment of a local State of Emergency legislation in March 2020. This enabled the town to adopt a Continuity of Governmental Operations Ordinance, giving us the flexibility and authority to adapt operations and adopt practices that enabled us to weather the emergency, like outdoor dining and fully virtual meetings. The Continuity Ordinance expired by law in late 2021. The act of “formally” repealing will have no effect on the daily lives of town citizens.

The end of the declaration comes exactly three years after the town was in the thick of the pandemic.

The item is up for consideration at a Herndon Town Council meeting at 7 p.m. today (Tuesday).

Currently, community level transmission in Fairfax County is low. 

A new bank is slated to open soon at The Spectrum Center at Reston Town Center.

PNC Bank plans to open at 11842 Spectrum Center this year, according to the center’s website.

County permits indicate that a permit for electrical work was issued last month. The center has businesses like The Container Store, Harris Teeter and Not Your Average Joe’s. A Barnes and Nobles location is also expected to open soon at the center.

“We are excited to share that this new branch location is anticipated to open at The Spectrum at Reston Town Center during the third quarter. The space occupies approximately 3,600 square feet,” a PNC Bank spokesperson told FFXnow.

There are several other banking options at the center, including United Bank, First National Bank, and Trustar Bank.

The bank has one other location in Reston. An ATM is located at the Giant in North Point Village Center (1450 Northpoint Village Center).

Last year, a PNC Bank location shuttered in Reston Town Center (11932 Democracy Drive).

Hat tip to Adam Rubinstein

One of Fair Lakes’ first office buildings — Parkway Woods — could flip into a residential development.

TPC Hornbaker LC is seeking the county’s permission to redevelop the three-story office building and parking lot spread across nearly 4.4 acres into an apartment building.

The development application, which targets 12801 Fair Lakes Parkway, argues that higher office vacancies and lower office and retail demand justify the need for redevelopment.

The existing office building was first built in 1987 and is roughly 64,000 square feet in size.

“Many of Fair Lakes’ first generation office buildings, including Parkway Woods, must now compete with newer buildings in transit-served mixed-use submarkets in Northern Virginia which have a strong brand identity, modern infrastructure, floor plates, and amenities, and closer proximity to Metrorail,” the March 17 application says.

The plan lays out two options for redevelopment.

The first option would include two phases with two residential buildings totaling 317 units. The first phase would include a nine-story, 204-unit building, including 16 workforce dwelling units (WDU), and the second phase would include 113 units with nine WDUs across seven stories.

The proposed building heights are around 110 feet and 80 feet, respectively.

The second option stipulates a single 289-unit residential building with 23 WDUs. That building would be roughly 75 feet tall.

Both options will include a fitness center, meeting rooms, outdoor recreation areas and seating areas.

“The proposed residential development has been designed to be cohesive with adjacent parcels and does not increase the overall intensity of Fair Lakes as a whole,” the application says.

Approval of the project would require rezoning. The application is in the early stages of the county’s redevelopment process and has not yet been accepted for review.

Len Forkas, a Reston-based businessman, is skiing to the North Pole in a few weeks to break the ice on support for kids with cancer.

The 63-year-old — who is described as an “ultra-endurance athlete” — plans to ski 60 miles to the North Pole in order to raise money for Hopecam, a nonprofit organization he founded that connects children undergoing cancer treatment with their friends.

“I know some people think I’m crazy,” Forkas said. “But I think of myself as crazy about Hopecam’s kids. I hope I’ve convinced everybody that I’ll go to any length to support them.”

For Forkas, the trek is will bring him one step closer to his goal of completing the Explorer’s Grand Slam, a physical challenge that includes a trek to the North Pole, the South Pole, and all the highest mountain peaks on each of the seven continents, known as the Seven Summits.

So far, Forkas has travelled to five of the Seven Summits. He hopes to check off this physical challenge by August 2024 in time for his 65th birthday.

He plans to fly to a Norwegian village at the end of the month to meet the expedition team. They will then fly to a temporary camp in the Arctic Ocean.

Forkas founded Hopecam through personal struggle.

In 2002, his son, Matt, was diagnosed with leukemia. Forkas received permission from Fairfax County Public Schools to install a webcam in the classroom of a school in Great Falls to make sure Matt could participate. He began competing in ultra-endurance sports at the time of his son’s diagnosis.

“The exercise helped me cope with the stress of Matt’s illness,” he said. Matt, now 30, survived the bout of illness.

Forkas hopes to raise $60,000 for the nonprofit organization by matching the 60 miles he will ski to the North Pole. So far, the campaign has raised over $10,500, as of this morning.

With Hopecam, kids are provided with a tablet computer with a webcam, internet access if it’s unavailable, and assistance to work with the school so they can take part in some classroom activities and see their friends.

The nonprofit organization is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. It aims to overcome the social isolation that kids often experience while they receive cancer treatment.

“His North Pole journey presents a timely opportunity to showcase this noteworthy occasion,” Brett Fox, Hopecam’s development director, said.

A traveling exhibition looking at the ins and outs of Prohibition in Virginia is coming this month to Reston Museum.

The Library of Virginia’s Teetotalers & Moonshiners exhibit will be on view between tomorrow (March 21) and April 29. Reston Museum will also showcase artifacts from its own collection of Bowman Distillery items.

The exhibition tells the story of Virginia’s Prohibition, including its history as part of a social reform movement, the economic and social costs of Prohibition and the role of government in overseeing public health.

Here’s from Reston Museum on the exhibit:

Distilled from the Library’s 1,200 square foot exhibition (on view through December 5, 2017), Teetotalers & Moonshiners uses the Library’s deep and compelling collections on this era, from humorous sheet music mocking the absurdities of Prohibition to blazing headlines in anti- and pro-liquor newspapers and broadsides. At the core of the story are the records of the state’s Prohibition Commission, which record the daily activities of its agents. A digital interactive component documents statewide prohibition trends and tells the personal stories of commission agents, bootleggers, and moonshiners. The exhibition is supported in part by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association. The Virginia Distillers Association provided support for the traveling exhibition.

Teetotalers & Moonshiners addresses the important and long-lasting effects of Prohibition on Virginia and America, including the prohibition movement as part of a social reform movement, the economic and social costs of Prohibition, including the closing of businesses and conflict within communities, and the rise of illegal alcohol production and sale as an underground culture and economy, the role of government in overseeing public health, and prohibition’s legacy–from NASCAR to the creation of the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to the rise of the modern brewing and distilling industry.

The Library of Virginia was founded in 1823 to preserve the state’s printed and manuscript holdings. The exhibit is made possible in part with support from Virginia ABC and the Virginia Distillers Association.

Located at Lake Anne Plaza (1639 Washington Plaza North), Reston Museum is a nonprofit organization that aims to preserve Reston’s past, inform its present and influence the future of Reston.

Voting for Reston Association’s Board of Directors’ election closes on March 31.

This year, 10 candidates are vying for five seats on the nine-member board. The results of the election will be announced at the annual members’ meeting in April.

The month-long voting period kicked off on March 1 at 5 p.m.

RA organized two virtual candidate forums in late February.

Margaret Perry is seeking an at-large candidate seat for three years. A Reston resident and RA member for more than 12 years, Perry says she hopes to boost active engagement of RA members, work towards an improved website, work with staff to improvve organizational functionally and procedures and find “fiscally responsible ways to maintain, improve and add additional facilities,” according to her candidate statement.

She is running against John Farrell, who has lived in Reston for nearly 40 years and currently serves on the board.

If elected, Farrell — who is also running for state delegate — says he would “demand all new residential development join Reston Association” in an effect to reduce annual assessments and demand recreational money from residential developers to pay for pools, tennis courts and other amenities.

Gene Zapfel, who recently retired from a career in consulting and technology management, hopes to maintain Reston’s “small-town cluster feel” while improving the community experience for current and future residents. He also hopes to balance the “explosive” growth in Reston’s Transit Station Areas with the “human-scale lifestyle” of surrounding areas.

Mike Collins, who has served on the board for the last three years, is seeking a three-year term as the apartment owners’ candidate.

“My main goal on the board will be to continue to make sure that RA maintains its focus on enhancing property values for members,” Collins wrote in a candidate statement.

He added that the board should not “let internal challenges and political issues distract us from this mission.”

Jalal Mapar, who has lived in Reston for more than 30 years, is vying for a two-year at-large seat. He hopes to establish a strategic plan to maintain Reston’s infrastructure and ensure the efficient use of resources to meet member needs.

Trevor Grywatch, the director of a global consulting firm, is vying for the same position. He hopes to maintain open and green space in the community and explore possibilities for a “more data-drive approach to, and, presentation of, RA’s current business practices.”

For the one-year at-large candidate seat, Michael Brandland, a Reston resident since 2014, hopes to “get all activities in Reston the proper distribution of funds and amenities equal to the number of participants,” according to his candidate statement.

Bob Petrine — a board member for the last three years — is also vying for that position. He hopes to focus on fiscal stewardship, active engagement of membership and advocacy for the community.

Although the seat for Hunters Woods/Dogwood director is not contested, a quorum of 19% of eligible voters is required to officiate the results. Travis Johnson, a Reston resident for more than 14 years, is running for that seat.

He hopes to work with staff to “improve the Association processes that serve Restonians, to use the technology available to us in the 21st Century to more effectively communicate with Restonians and to make all Restonians feel included in the community,” he wrote.

(Updated at 1:30 p.m. on 3/20/2023) Fairfax County is in the midst of deciding where nearly $25 million in funding for pedestrian and bicyclists improvements will be allocated.

After combing through more than 2,000 possible projects, staff have develop a draft list of prioritized projects, according to Michael Guarino, head of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation’s capital projects division.

At a Board of Supervisors transportation committee meeting on Tuesday (March 14), Guarino said the county is using spatial analysis tools to help sift through roughly 2,800 unfunded projects and project requests. The list was then further pared down by examining network connectivity and trip generators.

“We’re using technology as best as we can. I think are areas where we can do it more. Overall, the process is working the way we want it to, it’s just taking longer than we want it to,” Guarino said.

The decision is part of the county’s $100 million commitment to support active or non-motorized transportation access and safety improvements.

The first $5 million in funding, approved in November 2022, included $2 million for trail maintenance, $2.7 million for crosswalk projects, and $200,000 for a safe routes project near Bush Hill Elementary School. An additional $100,000 was allocated to speed feedback signs for the Fairfax County Police Department.

As part of the next cycle, $2.3 million for crosswalk projects has already been approved, along with $400,000 to repair and replace existing rapid flashing beacons through fiscal year 2028.

Board members lauded staff for the methodology used to create the draft list.

“It was very well done the way you pulled this all together,” Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said.

The county plans to seek additional money for pedestrian intersection improvements at Blake Lane and Bushman Drive in Oakton as well as Beverly Road at Old Dominion Drive and Elm Street at Old Dominion Drive in McLean after missing out on a federal grant.

The county did not receive the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant due to a lack of needed data to back up claims for the need for the projects, along with the projects not being ready to build yet, Guarino said.

Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross noted that some projects can take years to come to fruition. She said it took nearly 37 years to install sidewalks on Sleepy Hollow Road — a project that is currently under construction.

“It wasn’t all the county’s fault,” Gross said, adding that an iterative process will ensure that projects are shovel-ready.

The proposed list of active transportation projects includes: Read More

Updated at 4:05 p.m. — Yesterday’s meeting on a potential Lake Audubon renaming was suspended after 20 minutes due to a medical emergency. The meeting will be rescheduled, but an exact date hasn’t been determined yet, Reston Association spokesperson Mike Leone says.

Earlier: Months after floating the possibility of a name change for Lake Audubon, Reston Association is beginning initial conversations with the community.

RA planned to hold a meeting on the idea of renaming the lake yesterday (Thursday) at the Walker Nature Center.

The meeting was strictly intended to “explore community sentiment on whether to rename Lake Audubon,” RA spokesperson Mike Leone said.

Leone told FFXnow that the meeting focused on getting input from members in the area around the lake on the possibility of a name change.

“Currently, no other meetings or discussions are scheduled on the renaming,” Leone wrote in a statement.

RA’s Board of Directors first pitched the idea at a December meeting. The motion was suggested by at-large director John Farrell, who later announced that he is running in the state delegate race to succeed Ken Plum.

Farrell is also seeking to retain his seat on the RA board, which has an election now underway.

The lake is named after 19th century artist and known enslaver John James Audubon.

In October 2021, the Audubon Naturalist Society — a major D.C. area conservation group — said it will change its name due to the “pain” caused by Audubon. The organization is now called Nature Forward.

The National Audubon Society, however, voted earlier this week to keep its name, even as local chapters of the bird conservation nonprofit — including the one in D.C. — move to drop it.

The Town of Herndon is instituting uniform sign standards in an effort to manage consistent design that fits its character and architectural context.

The proposal, which was adopted by the Historic District Review Board yesterday (Wednesday), would also streamline the number of cases that go before that board and the town’s Architectural Review Board.

“These standards give direction on the ways in which signage can serve practical needs while contributing to Town character and appearance,” the new design standards say.

Specific standards laid out for the town’s Historic District Overlay area say signs should typically follow a consistent design palette and ethic. The rules also discourage the use of standardized designs and colors that clash with the overall aesthetic of buildings.

“Creative and artistic designs are encouraged to enhance liveliness and visual interest,” the design standards say.

The guidelines also detail considerations for projecting signs, wall signs, free standing signs, canopy signs and awning signs. Similar standards are considered for the town’s Architectural Control District.

At a previous work session, board members said the design standards were too broad and not restrictive enough.

But in a March 15 memo, Herndon Deputy Director of Community Development Bryce Perry said that the board did not provide additional comments on possible changes.

“Staff is open to suggestions on how to add further specific to the standards,” Perry said, adding that additional specificity is included in other documents like the downtown pattern book.

He said the guidelines are crafted “purposefully to cover broad design considerations that could be applied to all sign cases.”