In This Edition

This new service expansion was funded by the City's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). 

No issue has dominated this City Council term more than our efforts concluding decades of litigation and rancor over the future of our waterfront. Central in those discussions has been the negotiation and ultimate settlement with the Old Dominion Boat Club. 

In March, the membership of the Club voted to accept a negotiated settlement which provided the entire base of King Street on the water as a new City park, while providing the Club with a brand new boat house on the waterfront nearby.

The deal was also contingent on the negotiation of final terms and conditions. Late last month, the City Council approved the final agreement between the two parties. Later this month, the Old Dominion Boat Club will also hold a vote to accept this very same agreement. 

With this agreement nearly completed, the City has moved quickly to engage the community and design the future of these new public spaces. 

At our June Public Hearing the City Council accepted public testimony on early plans for spaces that will be the central focus of our waterfront. Ultimately, the Council unanimously endorsed the early concepts and directed our Staff to continue efforts to bring this vision to reality. 

A pilot effort around the City has now become a new service. 

Alexandria now joins other communities around the country in offering separate yard waste collection.

While residents still have the option of disposing of yard waste with their regular trash, this effort will divert this waste from the City's  trash supply and allow it to become compost or mulch. 

Upon request, the City will provide an adhesive label to turn any appropriate can into a yard waste collection container. 

Please let me know your thoughts on this new service. 

After years of effort involving hundreds of residents from throughout our community, the City adopted the Children & Youth Master Plan. 

While most of the City's master plans carefully define an infrastructure improvement or development plan, the Children & Youth Master Plan provides for a more lasting investment; investment in the success of our children.

The adopted plan defines a series of goals and action steps designed to place all of our City's children on the path to success.

Central to this vision is the realization that good intentions and even ample financial resources are not enough. Without a clear governance structure, accountability and a willingness to fearlessly approach trade-offs, the considerable investment we make in children across numerous agencies will be squandered.

To assist the deliberations, I provided a series of specific suggestions for refinements and enhancement of the plan. As we move forward to implement the plan, I'm hopeful we can use these concepts and others to achieve the vision that our community now shares.  

One of the challenges of living in a growing region is the constant struggle to match infrastructure to the needs of residents. Throughout our region this challenge has played out repeatedly as electric utilities have sought to expand transmission facilities. 

In Alexandria, we now face a similar quandary as Dominion Virginia Power has approached the City seeking to build a new 230 kilo volt underground transmission line.

The proposal is to connect an existing substation on the Arlington/Alexandria border on South Glebe Road with the substation next to the now-decommissioned Mirant/GenOn/NRG power plant on the Potomac River. 

While the power plant is closed permanently and will eventually be redeveloped, the substation would be expanded and will remain indefinitely.     

Dominion Virginia Power brought this proposal to PJM, the administrator of the electric grid, and they now seek approval from the State Corporation Commission in order to proceed with construction in Alexandria.

This is an area that state law gives very little authority to local governments to regulate. While Dominion Virginia Power is required to initiate some cursory community engagement, it is not a requirement to have the approval of the City.  

Dominion Virginia Power is considering a number of routes within the City. Some of those routes may have significant impact on existing roads and properties. If the necessity for this transmission line is affirmed, it will be important to work to find the least disruptive route between those two locations. With several disruptive infrastructure projects either recently completed or underway, our residents have endured more than enough inconvenience.