The value of an office building just outside the Mosaic District will determine whether Fairfax County has to go to court to boost a Merrifield sewer’s capacity.
The owner of 8315 Lee Highway is the lone remaining holdout in land rights negotiations with the county, which has reached agreements for six of the seven properties that will be affected by the project, land acquisition staff reported to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last week.
While hopeful that a resolution can be achieved without a court visit, the board voted 8-2 last Tuesday (Sept. 12) to authorize staff to complete the land acquisitions — including by exercising the county’s eminent domain powers if necessary.
“A lot of times, this is the impetus to get to the finish line,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said before the vote. “…This has been a long process, and to make sure we’re continuing to make progress on this, hopefully, we reach an agreement before it has to go to court.”
The sewer capacity upgrade will replace a 12-inch-wide line with a 20-inch PVC pipe wrapped in 30-inch steel casing. The new pipe will extend 563 linear feet between the corner of Route 29 and Eskridge Road and the U.S. Postal Service’s Merrifield facility.
The project will also add three new manholes. The existing sewer line will be abandoned in place.
The Department of Public Works and Environmental Services determined that existing pipes were “at risk” of overflows that could affect nearby buildings and the environment “due to the current average daily flows and the current pipe size,” according to a staff report in the board meeting package.
“The goal of the project is to alleviate this public health risk concern and provide additional capacity to account for the growing population size upstream of the pipes in the Merrifield area,” staff wrote.
DPWES says it hopes to begin construction on the project in January to avoid disrupting post office operations during the busy winter holiday shopping season.
However, the county and CJC Associates LP, which owns the building at 8315 Lee Highway, are still “very far apart” in their assessments of the site’s redevelopment potential and the project’s impact on its value, Land Acquisition Division Director Dennis Cade admitted at last week’s public hearing.
Negotiations for sewer and temporary access and construction easements needed to allow construction and equipment staging on the property have been underway since spring 2022, according to Jocelyn Campbell, a right-of-way agent for the county.
Confirming that his company recently presented a counteroffer to the county, CJC Associates partner Jim Coakley said “outside parties” have estimated that the building could lose about $325,000 in income from leasing during the construction period. Read More
Additional growth in the Town of Herndon is prompting town officials to consider adding additional capacity to its sewer system.
At a Herndon Town Council work session on Tuesday (July 11), Public Works Director Tammy Chastain told the council that the town is working with Fairfax County to install a new sewer pump station. The project would take roughly two years to design and three years to construct.
Additional development and growth — particularly in the Herndon Transit-Oriented Core and the Transit Related Growth areas — is expected to place more strain on public utilities overall, Chastain said. The town is in the midst of planning ways to accommodate that growth, she said.
“We need to look at our utilities,” Chastain said.
The town is considering two sites for the pump station. So far, officials are favoring a site opposite Marjorie Lane and Herndon Parkway that preserves an undeveloped area and does not require any easements. The location is also further away from historic structures and a swim club, Chastain said.
The area will flow into the Sugarland Run sewer lane.
Chastain said the pump station is needed because the capacity of the regional Potomac Interceptor is maxed out.
The county will share the cost and capacity of the project. The timing of the project is dependent on development, Chastain said.
A hole was recently found in a sewer pipe along Shreve Road in Idylwood, necessitating emergency repairs that started yesterday (Wednesday).
The issue was discovered during a “routine inspection” of the pipe, which carries wastewater from 34 homes and Shrevewood Elementary School, according to the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.
DPWES described the defect as a visible “hole void.”
Identified by the department’s Wastewater Collection Division (WCD) last week, the defect is severe enough that “immediate action” was required to repair the pipe and prevent it from collapsing, Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said yesterday.
“WCD is initiating an emergency response to perform the point repair,” Palchik said in a tweet. “The work will be performed with Utilities Unlimited and is anticipated to start TODAY and be completed within one week.”
According to DPWES spokesperson Sharon North, the actual pipe repair is expected to be finished this week, but more time may be needed to repave the site, depending on whether the Virginia Department of Transportation allows crews to work over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
“We anticipate the pipe repair will be completed this week, but site restoration (repaving) may need to be completed next week pending VDOT decision,” North said. “When the work commences, since the sewer is in the middle of the road, the repair will require some traffic lane closures with flaggers directing traffic to safely perform the work.”
The pipe has the capacity to convey approximately 1.4 million gallons per day of wastewater flow from residents and the school, according to DPWES.
The sewer line was already scheduled to undergo “trenchless” cured-in-place pipe rehabilitation — a type of repair for pipe lining that can be implemented without digging up the pipe.
That rehabilitation work will now begin after the emergency repairs are completed, Palchik said.
WCD is initiating an emergency response to perform the point repair. The work will be performed with Utilities Unlimited and is anticipated to start TODAY and be completed within one week. Following the repair, the entire pipe will be rehabilitated using trenchless CIPP method.
— Dalia Palchik (@SupvPalchik) June 28, 2023
Fairfax County is pushing forward on a program that could have the county government split the bill for private stormwater projects with property owners.
Flooding doesn’t end at the property line and the Local Stormwater Management Assistance Fund aims to help boost stormwater management on private property. At an environmental committee meeting of the Board of Supervisors on April 25, staff presented an update on the program.
“This is a good example of how: even when we say everything is private, it’s your responsibility, at the end of the day, if things fall apart, they somehow end up in our lap,” said Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn.
The pilot divided the cost-sharing based on the percentage of property that’s public versus private. For a stormwater issue where most of the drainage is on public land, the county will pay most of the bill, whereas for an issue where the drainage is mostly on private property, the owners would pay the majority.
The initial budget for the program would be $250,000, with up to $7,000 allowed for each project applying to the fund. Staff said no more than 30 projects could be funded per year through the program, butwith the current eligibility restrictions, even 30 projects was somewhat optimistic.
The county is currently finishing up a pilot program that included the Millwood Pond, Virginia Center or Nutley, Green Trails and Gunston Corner facilities.
The county has signed an agreement with the Millwood Pond owners but determined no maintenance was needed. A “complex” maintenance project at Nutley has been completed, while one at Green Trails is under construction. Negotiations on an agreement for the Gunston Corner pond are still underway.
After the pilot finishes, staff will return to the Board of Supervisors’ environmental committee.
Maintenance work on the Circle Woods stormwater pond in Oakton will have to wait until this summer — or until the hawks nesting in a nearby tree take their leave.
The Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) shared on Monday (April 3) that its contractor had encountered an “active hawks nest” in a tree that has been slated for removal.
The birds and their nest are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treat Act and a nationwide permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the county.
“The construction team and our Fairfax County Park Authority partners made the decision to pause active work to limit disruption that could impact the nesting birds and ensure we maintain compliance with the permit and federal law,” DPWES said in an update on the project page.
DPWES spokesperson Sharon North confirmed that only one nest has been found, but it’s unclear how many birds are using it. At least two hawks have been photographed in the area.
Work will resume after the nesting period, which is expected to last through early June, or once the project team determines that the nest is no longer being used.
Construction on the pond was scheduled to begin on March 3, according to Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik. Some initial setup and tree-clearing activities had gotten underway when workers found the hawk nest.
@ffxpublicworks completed survey, permitting, design, & support services for the Circle Woods Pond Improvement Project to perform necessary maintenance on an existing stormwater detention facility & make improvements within the pond floor and at the outfall. pic.twitter.com/eyjNWzUdv4
— Dalia Palchik (@SupvPalchik) February 21, 2023
DPWES says it initiated the project after maintenance workers detected “dam and control structure deficiencies” with the detention pond, which is located near East Blake Lane Park.
In addition to making “necessary repairs” to the dam and replacing the control structure, the project will involve the removal of sediment and an “extensive” tree root structure that has begun to encroach on the dam embankment, according to the county.
With a total budget of $685,000, the project was expected to be finished in November, suggesting that if construction work doesn’t resume until June, it will now continue into 2023.
Once construction restarts, the East Blake Lane Trail will be closed between Vaden Dr. and Route 29 will be closed throughout the project.
The redevelopment of the West Falls Church Metro station secured the Fairfax County Planning Commission’s endorsement last week, a critical step forward for a project that could serve as a guide for other transit-oriented developments in the D.C. region.
The commission voted unanimously on Wednesday (March 15) to recommend that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approve a rezoning of the 24-acre property to allow over 1 million square feet of development, including 810 multifamily residential units, 85 townhouses, a 110,000-square-foot office building and up to 10,000 square feet of retail.
As seen at a public hearing in February, the proposal from developers EYA, Rushmark Properties, and Hoffman & Associates (FGCP-Metro LLC) has divided the community. Some hope the new housing and infrastructure will energize the neighborhood, while others worry it will fuel traffic and parking issues.
“It’s going to be a big change, and that’s difficult for some people, but I think it’s going to be a positive change in the long run,” Dranesville District Planning Commissioner John Ulfelder said. “We’re going to have to break a few eggs on the way to get there, but I think, in the long run, it’s going to be great for the neighborhoods, for the people who’ll be living there, and for the county.”
The commission’s vote followed weeks of negotiations involving the developers, the county, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and neighboring residents, primarily over an existing stormwater pond on the site.
Expected to be retained with the redevelopment, the pond manages stormwater runoff from Metro’s facilities and the Village and Pavillion condominiums southeast of the station along Haycock Road.
The agreement between WMATA and the condo associations granting residents access to the pond is set to expire in 2026. Condo representatives asked the planning commission last month not to approve the redevelopment until they get a permanent extension of the easement.
While Ulfelder said then that he couldn’t delay the rezoning for “really an off-site issue,” FGCP-Metro LLC has agreed that its development won’t use the pond for stormwater detention and to “reserve sufficient detention capacity” for stormwater from Metro’s facilities and the condos, according to a draft proffer agreement updated on March 13.
Walsh Colucci lawyer Andrew Painter, who is representing the developers, confirmed that the proffer essentially guarantees that the condos will have perpetual access to the pond.
“It is very close,” Painter said regarding WMATA extending the stormwater agreement. “…We received an email earlier this evening…from counsel for the Villages and Pavillions saying that we are very close and they’re confident they will be able to resolve this issue shortly.”
Ulfelder acknowledged the lingering anxiety from some neighbors over the developers proposing 40% fewer parking spaces on the site than what the county requires, but he noted that the parking reduction request will be voted on by the Board of Supervisors separately from the overall development plan.
If the request is rejected, the developers must provide parking in accordance with the county’s zoning requirements, which could soon be lowered.
Metro’s board of directors is scheduled to vote on a plan for reducing parking and other transit facilities at the station this Thursday (March 23).
Ulfelder thanked the developers for working with county staff and the community on their application, which he said was made “better, stronger and more fitting” by the public input. A county-led study of potential pedestrian and bicycle improvements in the area, for instance, led FGCP-Metro LLC to agree to build a shared-use trail on Haycock Road.
“I believe it is an excellent example of how the county can and should address large and complex applications, while making sure they are consistent with the county’s long-range plans for development and redevelopment,” Ulfelder said. “We don’t need to fall into the trap of development for development’s sake to make progress on long-term county goals.”
The proposal is now set to go to the Board of Supervisors for a public hearing and vote on May 9.
A stormwater retention project in Vienna that officials say will help contain runoff and slow down traffic is set to get another infusion of Fairfax County funds.
The county’s Board of Supervisors authorized staff last week to provide an additional $54,000 for the Town of Vienna’s Tapawingo and Kingsley road urban bioretention project. The vote took place without discussion at the board’s Feb. 21 meeting.
The money will come in addition to $200,000 that the county already allocated to the project under a funding agreement originally signed in October 2018.
“The increased Project cost is attributable to rising construction costs and larger bioretention cells needed to maximize water quality benefits,” county staff said in a memo explaining their recommendation that the agreement be amended.
The project will add two bioretention areas — or rain gardens — along Meadow Lane SW: one at the Tapawingo Road intersection and another further south at the Kingsley Road intersection.
To accommodate the cells, the existing corner pavement will be demolished and replaced with extended curbs, according to Vienna plans. The cells will be covered with a combination of perennial plants, such as switchgrass and bee balm, as well as grass sod.
According to county staff, the cells will treat stormwater runoff as it goes into Hunter’s Branch of the Accotink Creek watershed, providing “nutrient reduction and improved water quality.”
“Green stormwater controls are not only an aesthetic benefit provided by integrating nature into the urban built environment, but also planted cells are effective at removing nitrogen, phosphorous and in remediating metals that pose health impacts to aquatic life,” staff said. “For this reason, alternatives such as underground storage basins that offer limited infiltration and water quality improvement were not preferred.”
In addition to the stormwater benefits, town officials anticipate the curb extensions will help calm traffic on Meadow Lane, a 30-foot-wide street in a residential neighborhood, county staff said.
The road’s travel lanes at the Tapawingo and Kingsley intersections will be restricted to 20 feet wide, according to Vienna project manager Alan Chen.
The design, which was developed by Urban Ltd., also proposes 10-foot-wide crosswalks on all four sides of the Tapawingo intersection and on the north and east sides of the Kingsley intersection. The final design was presented at a community meeting on Nov. 3, 2021.
Under the 2018 agreement, Fairfax County agreed to cover the design and construction cost of the stormwater facilities. The additional funds authorized last week will cover the increased construction costs for the bioretention areas — but not for the curb extensions, Chen said.
The curb extensions and other remaining costs are Vienna’s responsibility, Chen told FFXnow. The town council will vote on whether to approve $84,564 for the project and the amended funding agreement on April 10.
In all, the project will cost just under $338,565. Assuming the town council approves Vienna’s portion and the new agreement, the town anticipates construction will begin in May.
Photo via Fairfax County
If developers are willing to invest in boosting sewage infrastructure with their new projects, Fairfax County is willing to foot part of the bill.
The Board of Supervisors adopted a new policy (page 621) on Tuesday (Dec. 6) that would allow the county to reimburse developers for the cost of building enlarged sewage facilities to help grapple with wastewater. This change also means a slight sewer bill increase for local residents.
“The proposed policy recommends reimbursing developers for the cost of constructing an enlarged sewage facility based on the County’s share of existing and future wastewater flow,” a staff report sid. “Future flows are based on buildout described in the Comprehensive plan. The developers will be responsible for the cost that is equal to the proportional share of the enlarged facility that conveys flow exclusively from their development.”
The report said the current policy for reimbursing developers for enlarging sewer facilities is outdated and has not been used for 20 years.
According to county staff, the county’s pro-rate share of costs for eligible projects over the next two fiscal years would be $22.5 million or less. That cost will likely come from a 20-cent-per-month increase to the average sewer bill for residents.
According to the report:
This estimated amount would be paid out over several fiscal years, because potentially eligible projects are in various stages of plan review and approval and reimbursement will not be issued until construction milestones are met. To account for the proposed policy, staff anticipates recommending an additional increase of $0.20 per month on an average sewer bill for residential customers and an additional increase in Availability Charges of $182 for single-family homes and $146 for townhomes and multi-family homes.
While the change does mean a sewer rate increase for residents, the report said the financial burden of boosting local sewer infrastructure is lessened by sharing that cost between the county and local developers.
“By cost-sharing with private developers, all current users benefit from improved sanitary sewer infrastructure that reduces the potential for sewage release into the environment, and all rate payers benefit from reduced sewer maintenance and replacement costs,” the report said. “Without this policy, the cost to upsize sewer facilities as required by current County Code could disproportionately impact smaller development projects.”
The proposal was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors.
“This is a helpful, important motion,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said. “This is a big turning point in terms of our ability to deal with managing growth and sewers.”
Image via Marco Bicca/Unsplash
A pump station proposed for the Herndon Police Department site will be able to process 10 million gallons of water per day, town staff say.
The station is part of a broader retooling of Herndon’s Utility Master Plan, which outlines how the town will bolster its water infrastructure in preparation for development around the downtown and future Metro station.
Presented to the town council in 2017, that plan anticipated the town would need to increase its water capacity by an additional 1 million gallons per day by 2025. The town purchased new storage in 2018, bringing its total capacity to 5.7 million gallons per day, according to a staff report by the Herndon Department of Public Works.
However, a shift in development trends in favor of residential construction over commercial led staff to revisit its earlier estimates and conclude that a new pump station would make more sense than the previous plan to add two transmission mains.
“This would allow us to get the additional capacity that we will need in a much more economical and reliable fashion than our previous plans estimated,” Herndon Deputy Director of Public Works Tammy Chastain told the town council during a work session on Tuesday (Oct. 4).
The new pump station will be on the police station property at 397 Herndon Parkway, where it can be connected to an existing 24-inch-wide pipeline that runs parallel to the Washington & Old Dominion Trail.
The town council is slated to approve a pending agreement with Fairfax Water for the project on Tuesday (Oct. 11), kicking off the design process.
Fairfax Water would be responsible for designing, building, operating and maintaining the facility, while the Town of Herndon would cover the design and construction costs.
“They are the ones that are going to have to upgrade it and maintain it,” Chastain said. “If it needs major repairs, we’d probably be helping in funding that. It’s only for us right now, which is why we’re paying the full cost.”
Right now, the estimated cost is nearly $5 million — higher than what town officials suggested before initiating an engineering study in 2019 but lower than the over $6 million that would’ve been needed for two transmission lines, according to Chastain.
The funding will come from the federal COVID-19 relief that the town was allocated by the American Rescue Plan Act, which included water and sewer projects as a viable use of the money, Town Manager Bill Ashton confirmed.
“This is good news because we’ve been planning for this for years,” Mayor Sheila Olem said. “Unfortunately, we went through Covid, but now, we’re getting this funding for something we knew we were putting in anyway. This is great.”
The pump station is “a step amongst several” in Herndon’s utility plan, Ashton said. At some point, the town will also replace its storage tank on Alabama Drive with two smaller tanks that the pump will fill.
Since the station will be right next to the W&OD, Councilmember Sean Regan questioned how it might affect the greenery alongside the trail and whether anything will need to be replaced.
Ashton responded that the potential impact on green space is “a design consideration we would certainly look at.”
McLean Police Shooting Not Justified, Family Says — The parents of Jasper Aaron Lynch, who was fatally shot four times by a Fairfax County police officer during a mental health crisis call on July 7, said in a statement that the police “could have, and should have, handled this far differently.” Their comments came after the county police department released footage of the encounter. [WTOP]
Bailey’s Crossroads Car Dealership to Expand — “The Radley Acura dealership on Columbia Pike near Route 7 in Bailey’s Crossroads will undergo a major expansion. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning application Aug. 2 by Radley Management LLC to build a three-level parking garage with 307 spaces and an enclosed customer service drop-off addition.” [Annandale Today]
New Metro Safety Issues Raised — “Metro needs to inspect, clean, and protect Metrorail station rooms that house equipment that detects when trains are on tracks and helps the system avoid crashes, the agency’s safety oversight body said in a report released Thursday. The report further said that Metro had failed to follow through on inspections after the issue was raised in March.” [DCist]
County Pension Fund Doubles Down on Crypto — “Fairfax County, Va.’s $6.8 billion pension fund, the Fairfax County Retirement Systems, has received approval to invest $70 million across two crypto yield farming funds…The $1.8 billion Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System has made a series of crypto investments in the past alongside the Fairfax County Retirement Systems” [CoinDesk]
Funds for Water to Historic Hall Approved — “The Fairfax County Park Authority Board approved a Mastenbrook Grant request from the Great Falls Grange Foundation (GFGF) in the amount of $20,000 to help install a municipal-connected water line to service the Great Falls Grange…The overall vision for this site is to serve the community as a self-supporting gathering place, a location for classes and a place to hold special events.” [FCPA]
Decision on Maryland’s Beltway Toll Lanes Coming — “With the U.S. Department of Transportation poised to issue its decision on an ambitious Capital Beltway and I-270 toll lanes plan, Montgomery County’s top planner accused state highway officials of running roughshod over Maryland law,” echoing similar complaints leveled by McLean residents over Virginia’s 495 NEXT project. [Maryland Matters]
Poll: What Does “Alexandria” Mean to You? — “One of the very first stories on ALXnow discussed…the distinction between the City of Alexandria and the areas of Fairfax south of Cameron Run sometimes referred to as Alexandria. This past week, two businesses opening this month — a cannabis dispensary and a metal supermarket — identified themselves as ‘Alexandria’ branches of their respective chains despite the fact that both are opening in Fairfax.” [ALXnow]
It’s Friday — Rain in the evening and overnight. High of 91 and low of 76. Sunrise at 6:15 am and sunset at 8:17 pm. [Weather.gov]
