 | | NO TYSONS CASINO
MCA continues to work with other Civic Associations to KILL THE CASINO BILL. We need our Board of Supervisors to tell the Virginia General Assembly that Fairfax does not want a casino! Both Dranesville Supervisor Bierman and Hunter Mill Supervisor Alcorn have been very upfront about their opposition. A big thanks to them for their support.
How do we convince the other Supervisors to say NO? Please take a few minutes to go to the coalition’s website and visit the Take Action page! Use the convenient email tool to send a message to your Fairfax County and State representatives. More importantly, please forward the website link to your friends around the County and ask them to TAKE ACTION.
SAVE THE DATE – MAY 21, 4:30 P.M. – FAIRFAX COUNTY GOVERNMENTAL CENTER – BOARD AUDITORIUM
The Board of Supervisors has Public Comment Sessions from May through September. We want to send a strong, visual message on May 21st by filling the auditorium with a sea of red t-shirts emblazed with No Tysons Casino! For more information and to register for the event, go to the MCA Event Calendar. There are opportunities to testify during the Public Comment sessions. Instructions for signing up to testify are included in the event description.
Linda Walsh
MCA President
|  | | | Mark Your Calendar for These Upcoming Events
|  | | 16th Annual Outstanding Character Award for Teenagers
Every year, MCA sponsors the Outstanding Character Award for Teenagers to recognize teens with exceptional ethical and compassionate character. Teens who have, on their own and without compensation or formal recognition, cared for elderly relatives or younger siblings, or who have helped out in their neighborhood or anywhere in the Greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area, are eligible for recognition. MCA is proud to recognize these teens and to hold them up as an example for others to follow.
All teen nominations must meet the criteria listed on the application. The MCA Education and Youth Committee will review nominations and select the winners from the most deserving candidates.
A completed application and two nominations must be submitted via EMAIL (e-y_committee@mcleancitizens.org) NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024.
MCA President Linda Walsh will join local officials in presenting the awards. The award ceremony will be held at Lewinsville Park on Chain Bridge Road in McLean on McLean Day, May 18th, at 3pm!
| | | | Senior Safety Summit
April 24, 2024 10:00am - 12:00pm
McLean Community Center, Community Hall
The Senior Safety Summit is a collaboration among MCA, McLean Community Center (MCC), Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FRD) and Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD). Its goal is to help keep our community safe for our growing population of seniors.
Come learn about public safety topics, including:
- Community Risk Reduction
- Search and Rescue
- Missing Persons
- Financial Crime
- Romance Scams
- Business Scams
- Crime Prevention and Safety
REGISTRATION IS NOT REQUIRED and ADMISSION IS FREE. All are welcome -- seniors, caregivers, family members, anyone who wants to learn about this important topic. Click website for more information or visit our website.
| | | March Recap: Join Us Next Year for These Great Events!
| | Student Jobs Fair
March 21
On March 21st, MCA hosted its second annual Student Jobs Fair at the McLean Community Center (MCC). Over 200 students visited with local employers. Special thanks goes out to McLean High School Student Career Counselor, Mary Barnes, who helped coordinate employers and promote the event to area schools, and to MCC Scheduling Manager, Jonathan Davis.
| | |  | | I LOVE McLean Day
March 2nd
A wonderful celebration of civic pride.
|  | On March 2nd, MCA co-hosted the 5th Annual "I Love McLean" Celebration with McLean Community Center (MCC), McLean Project for the Arts (MPA), McLean Community Foundation (MCF), and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue and McLean District Police Station. We at MCA LOVED meeting residents who care as much as we do about our schools, roads, environment, safety, seniors, community amenities, and quality of life.
| | |
 | Budget Town Hall
March 11
On March 11th, MCA co-hosted the annual Budget Town Hall with Dranesville Supervisor Jimmy Bierman’s Office. These town halls provide residents with an opportunity to learn about the County’s and school system’s proposed budgets for the next fiscal year. Click here to watch the video.
This year’s Town Hall, moderated by MCA Budget & Taxation Chair Louise Epstein, included three panelists from the County -- Supervisor Jimmy Bierman, County CFO Christina Jackson, and Phil Hagen, the director of the County’s Department of Management and Budget -- and three from FCPS -- School Board member Robyn Lady, FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid, and FCPS CFO Leigh Burden.
Attendees learned a lot by inquiring about the two budgets' different figures for the same line item. For example, FCPS is asking for a 10.5% increase from the County, while the County Executive has proposed to increase the FCPS transfer by 6.8%. The reason for the difference is that whereas FCPS is proposing a 6% across-the-board raise for all FCPS employees (plus increased supplemental pension benefits for FCPS employees hired before 2001 -- see "Fiscal Responsibility," below), the County’s proposed raises vary to reflect the difficulty of filling different types of jobs.
The County is facing growing fiscal challenges, which are likely to require increasingly tough future decisions about priorities.
| | Traffic Calming Meeting
February 21
On February 21st, MCA hosted officials from the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) for a discussion of Fairfax County programs that are intended to reduce speeds on neighborhood roads and to reduce cut-through traffic, including:
* Traffic Calming (e.g., installation of speed humps and speed tables to slow traffic)
* Cut-Through Mitigation, which can include restrictions on turns during commuting hours
* $200 Fine for Speeding Signs
* Watch for Children (WFC) Signs
* Through Truck Restrictions
After providing an overview of these programs, FCDOT officials answered numerous questions from the many citizens who attended.
| | |  | | Resolution in Support: Hilton Hotel in Scotts Run
On March 6, 2024, the MCA Board of Directors adopted a resolution supporting a plan by KM Hotels LLC and Cityline Partners to build a Hilton Hotel on the Westgate Block of Scotts Run at the intersection of Anderson Road and Route 123. The applicants seek to replace a plan approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2013 to build an office building on that Westgate Block. The Hotel will be part of a 23.5-acre area that will be developed by the applicants.
The new 17-story hotel will have 263 units. The lower levels will be Hilton's Home2 Suites extended-stay brand and the top six floors its boutique Canopy brand. Also planned are shops, restaurants, and internal parking. The Final Development Plan Amendment divides the Westgate Block into two building sites, A and B. The hotel will be built in Block A. Block B is reserved for future office or residential use, with a planned interim park.
In its resolution, MCA supports the applicant in its disagreement with county staff about locating loading access on a planned road at the rear of the property; however, MCA shares staff’s concern about the quality of proposed park spaces. MCA recommends that the applicant document how these existing spaces could be transformed into usable urban parks and suggests that if this is not feasible, the applicant should accept the Fairfax County Park Authority’s recommendation to enhance existing park spaces in the Scotts Run development to address the park requirements of the Tysons Comprehensive Plan.
|  | Resolution in Support: Condominiums at McLean Professional Park
Also at its March 6th meeting, the MCA Board of Directors approved an application by T&M McLean Ventures to replace six, low-rise, office buildings in McLean Professional Park with a five story, 104-unit, multifamily condominium building, including 12-units of workforce housing. Four of the original office buildings in the park will remain. The applicant will underground utilities, improve the streetscape and amenities, and create a .3-acre urban park. The development will preserve existing trees and increase the 10-year tree canopy by 42% over what exists currently. The switch from office to residential use will reduce the average number of daily vehicle trips from 830 to 473.
The MCA resolution notes that the application complies with the Zoning Ordinance and the McLean Comprehensive Plan. In addition, the applicant has proffered to conduct a pre-construction meeting for nearby residents and provide a construction parking study and management plan. | | |
| MCA Urges Board of Supervisors to Request Pipeline Construction Delay
Also on March 6th, the MCA Board of Directors approved a letter urging Chairman Jeffrey McKay and the Board of Supervisors (BOS) to ask Washington Gas to delay constructing a high-pressure, natural gas transmission pipeline through Pimmit Hills. The letter noted that in December 2023 the BOS had asked county staff to provide options for amending the Zoning Ordinance to regulate or prohibit such transmission lines in residential neighborhoods. BOS action was precipitated by an October 12, 2023, Fairfax County Circuit Court ruling that the pipeline was not subject to the Zoning Ordinance.
The letter asked the BOS to act quickly, since construction on the pipeline could begin on April 1. It also asked the BOS to expedite consideration of changes in the Zoning Ordinance. MCA joined the Pimmit Hills Citizens Association (PMCA) in requesting a delay. According to the PHCA, the pipeline would be 24 inches wide and operate at up to 325 pounds per square inch of pressure. Following a meandering route under narrow streets, it poses a potential risk to homes in its area.
|  | | | MCA Urges Fiscal Responsibility
Fairfax County employees participate in one of three pension plans, for police (PORS), fire fighters and sheriffs (URS) and other County employees (ERS). County contributions to these pension plans have skyrocketed, while unfunded liabilities rose from close to zero in 2000 to over $3.5 billion as of June 30, 2023. The County now pays about twice as much towards reducing unfunded liabilities than it pays to pre-fund pension benefits earned in the current year; unfunded liabilities are like credit card debt that increases despite monthly payments.
Burgeoning contributions to the pension plans have already required the County to spend less on other programs and/or raise taxes, and are likely to have more impact in future years.
After the Virginia General Assembly realized that it had similar problems with the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), it commissioned plain-English reports that led it to take several steps that have improved the financial condition of VRS. MCA's resolution urges the Board of Supervisors to commission reports like those provided to the General Assembly on VRS, which will provide plain English explanations about what can be done to make the County’s three pension plans financially sustainable.
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