November 2008 Archives
November 24, 2008
Vienna, How Are Your Pipes? Comments (2)
From Parade Magazine this past Sunday:
November 23, 2008
Our Crumbling Water Pipes
Last month, aging water mains broke in cities across the country—among them Tampa, Boston, and San Antonio—spilling millions of gallons. Nearly a million miles of underground pipe carry America’s drinking water, and much of it will need to be replaced—soon. Many of the nation’s cast-iron water mains date back a century or more. Others are newer but made of different materials that wear out faster. Fixing our nation’s water infrastructure will cost $277 billion, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.Not replacing it will cost even more. Nationwide, as much water is lost to underground leaks as California uses in a year; in some places, 40% of treated water vanishes underground. Water-main collapses cost far more than scheduled replacements, in both dollars and headaches. An aging pipe’s July rupture in a Washington, D.C., suburb shut down a major intersection, closed several shops, and left 200 customers without water. Utility workers are replacing 27 miles of the pipe this year, but it will take 200 years to solve the problem at that rate.
Older cities are most at risk, though few of the country’s 52,000 water systems will escape the reckoning. “There’s a big bill coming due,” says Greg Kail of the American Water Works Association. “We’re trying to sound the alarm now so that a very big concern doesn’t become a very big crisis.”
— Earl Swift
November 20, 2008
Safeway Closing in Paper Comments (12)
Safeway to Shutter Vienna Operation; Walgreens Expected to Replace It
by BRIAN TROMPETER, Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 18, 2008Vienna’s Safeway grocery store will close on Dec. 6 and be replaced by a Walgreens, town officials said.
The 25,000-square-foot Safeway store, located at 225 Maple Ave., E., has been in operation since 1973. Company officials decided to close the store after weighing its performance versus the benefit of selling it, said Greg Ten Eyck, public-affairs director for Safeway’s eastern division.
“The Vienna store was losing money for the past several years,” Ten Eyck said. “It was a very competitive environment. The store was small and did not have everything that shoppers were looking for today in a modern supermarket.”
The store’s 25 employees all have been offered jobs at other local Safeway stores, he said.
Safeway has about 1,700 stores nationwide, 110 in the Washington metropolitan area and 28 in Fairfax County, Ten Eyck said.
Vienna long has had a competitive grocery-store market. Within a mile-long stretch of Maple Avenue, shoppers could choose from Magruder’s, Whole Foods Market, Safeway and Giant.
Whole Foods was the most recent entry, opening in the fall of 1996 in the renovated former Lowe’s hardware store building.
The Safeway store in the Vienna area’s Pan Am Shopping Center is financially successful and has company-owned gasoline station in front, Ten Eyck said. Space constraints prevented the company from locating a fuel station in front of the Vienna store, he said.
Safeway’s gasoline business has proven successful, with club members earning discounts based on their grocery-store purchases. The accumulated points may be redeemed at gasoline stations owned by Safeway or BP, the grocery chain’s partner in the venture, Ten Eyck said.
Vienna officials and Safeway’s Ten Eyck said a Walgreens store would fill the vacancy left by the grocery store. Walgreens officials would not comment on the matter, saying no leases have been signed for the possible Vienna location.
Vienna Planning and Zoning Director Greg Hembree said he did not know when the Walgreens store would open, but estimated it would be sometime in mid-2009.
The company probably will renovate the building’s facade, which will necessitate a hearing before the Vienna Architectural Review Board, he said.
November 14, 2008
Awesome. Comments (2)
Beer-Tossing During Domestic Dispute Erupts at Halloween Parade
Wednesday, November 12, 2008Vienna police arrested a man and woman on Oct. 29 after they allegedly threw beer during a domestic dispute the Vienna Halloween Parade.
While directing traffic at the parade at about 8:56 p.m., an officer observed a domestic dispute beginning inside a vehicle.
The female participant, a 43-year-old Vienna woman then allegedly threw a beer from the vehicle onto the ground in front of families and children. She was arrested.
During the arrest, the other disputant, a 47-year-old Vienna man, allegedly threw another beer towards the officer and he, too, was arrested, police said.
Both subjects were charged with disorderly conduct and transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, where they were held on $300 bond, police said.
Parking 101. Comments (10)
Vienna Council Mulls Limited Options to Increase, Regulate Parking
by Brian Trompeter
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Vienna officials are considering a parking structure, paid parking, revised town codes and other measures to offset a nettlesome parking shortage on Church Street, N.W.According to an Oct. 1 Vienna Planning Commission report, discussed at the Vienna Town Council's Nov. 10 work session, full development of the Church Street Vision area could result in a shortage of as many as 246 parking spaces.
Commissioned last October by the Town Council, the study was produced by Planning Commission members Ed Chase, John Brunow, Chuck Anderson and Emil Attanasi.
The commission members conducted surveys of business owners and employees, as well as the public. One surprising find: Most drivers aren't willing to walk more than a block if they can't find parking on Church Street.
The Church Street Vision area, which uses a special zoning designation created in the mid-1990s, allows for floor-area ratios (FARs) of up to 0.7. Property owners receive increased building densities in exchange for architectural designs and site improvements that give the structures an early 20th-century appearance.
Council member Edythe Kelleher, who has much experience with land-use cases, said FARs of up to 0.5 only could be accommodated with street parking.
“Going to 0.7, we've pushed through the envelope and gone outside,” she said.
Town officials for years have considered building a parking structure in central Vienna to alleviate parking woes. One possible location is a vacant lot at 120 Church St., N.W.
However, a three-story above-ground parking garage with 200 spaces would cost about $8.5 million to build and $130,000 per year to operate.
“A big fix also includes a big price tag,” Anderson told the Town Council. “Generally, municipalities have to subsidize these structures. They don't pay for themselves.”
Council member Maud Robinson said an economical alternative would be for the town to buy the vacant lot and use it for ground-level parking until a parking structure became necessary.
If the town officials decide to build a parking structure in the Church Street Vision zone, they also likely would charge for parking in that area. This could be accomplished through meters or pay-to-park systems, which issue receipts that must be displayed on vehicles' dashboards.
Vienna officials also may reduce the number of parking spaces in Church Street Vision properties to one per every 400 square feet of the business in question - a figure that's half the usual amount.
Because restaurants usually require more parking, town officials may change the requirement to one space for every four or six seats in the restaurant.
Town officials could encourage property owners to share their parking, but this might meet resistance because of liability issues, officials said.
Another Church Street parking problem comes from a 35-unit condominium building, which supplies only one parking space per unit when most condominium owners have two vehicles, said Town Manager John Schoeberlein.
Town officials also are looking at ways to clear up traffic congestion caused by truck deliveries on Church Street.
Whatever steps the Town Council decides to take regarding the parking situation on Church Street, it first would have to hold two public hearings, said Vienna Planning and Zoning director Greg Hembree.
November 12, 2008
Attempted Carjacking in Vienna? Comments (6)
This email is circulating throughout Vienna the past few days. All names have been removed.
Hi Friends!This email is not meant to alarm anyone, but we thought we would fill you in on what happened to us last night after the XXX/XXX Irish party. XXX and I were driving home, at about 12a, down Branch street back toward our house. We were driving very slowly...probably about 10 miles/hr over one of the speed humps. As XXX was driving, he was talking to me and looking in my direction. The next thing we knew, there was a young man (black teenager or twenty-something in dark clothes) at XXX's car door. He looked as if he were about to open XXX's door to carjack us. He was physically brushing up against the car, but never did quite get the door handle. I screamed since XXX didn't even see the guy. Upon my scream, XXX too saw him and stepped on the gas. Fortunately, we got off safely. As we looked behind us, three other young black men came out from behind parked cars into the middle of the street. We stopped up at the corner far enough ahead to watch them and noticed they hopped into their four-door white car and drove off.
I cannot emphasize clearly enough that we really believe this was a carjacking attempt. So, please be careful driving in Vienna on dark, quiet streets. We will be staying on 123 as much as we can. We did notify the police and they seemed to take the report seriously. They did tell me that there have been a lot of thefts on Branch recently.
Please feel free to send this email to anyone in Vienna that you care to inform. Please be aware and stay safe. We feel very fortunate to be alive today.
Laine Hyde: How Crazy Is Crazy? Comments (1)
How does Vienna end up looking like it does? Consider Laine Hyde, one of Maud's political flunkies.
Hyde sits on the Vienna Commercial Architectural Review Board, a board that determines what can be built or not built in Vienna. When you drive down Maple Avenue and you see a commercial sign with a sh** brown tinge (no joke, that is a Town mandated coior) or some awful example of architecture, keep in mind Hyde was in the middle of it. And we at HV,com know that we must be striking a chord with criticism of Hyde since she recently complained that she had been depicted on this website as being secured as if in an "Abu Dhabi" (her words) prison camp. Of course, Hyde most likey meant to say Abu Ghraib, not Abu Dhabi, as Abu Dhabi is a city in the United Arab Emirates. But hey when you are a whacked political crony serving a master like Maud, who cares whether you are precise or not!
November 09, 2008
Miscellaneous Vienna Rumors ... Comments (51)
A little bird has told HistoricVienna.com that Safeway in Vienna is closing. We have also heard the Mayor is going around town telling people when the restaurant leases next door to Safeway (Noodles & Co, Chipotle) come up for renewal, they will be denied (due to the parking problems). We know how much everyone loves the two places (Noodles & Co, Chipotle) - hope everyone is paying attention to what is going on in Town.
Note: we are still miffed that when Trader Joe's "approached" the Town, our politicians could not seal the deal.
November 06, 2008
Sarah Palin Wet Dream Fantasy from Tom Seeman Comments (3)
This site has long pointed out the racism of Tom Seeman (Mayor of Vienna's far right son and chief campaigner during Vienna elections), but his icky ode to Sarah Palin almost makes you want to call the Secret Service and drop a dime on him. Once again, why does the Mayor of Vienna go to her son's crazy site to read and post there?
November 04, 2008
Murder in Tyson's Corner. Comments (3)
Taxicab Driver Murdered in Tysons Corner
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Fairfax County police officers on Nov. 2 discovered a taxicab driver dead inside his vehicle in Tysons Corner.A resident saw the vehicle parked in the 8400 block of Greensboro Drive at around 7 a.m. that day. Later that day, the same person saw the vehicle still parked there, and called police to conduct a welfare check on the person inside.
Around 1:25 p.m., officers discovered the deceased victim, who had apparent trauma to the upper body, police said.
Authorities on Nov. 3 identified the victim as Mazhar Nazir, 49, of Falls Church.
Homicide detectives canvassed the area as crime-scene technicians processed the site.
This is the 13th homicide in Fairfax County in 2008, police said.
Police ask anyone with information about this case to contact Crime Solvers by phone at (866) 411-8477, e-mail at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637, or call Fairfax County police at (703) 691-2131.
Vienna Officials Mourn Passing of Former Town Council Member Comments (1)
Vienna Officials Mourn Passing of Former Town Council Member
by BRIAN TROMPETER, Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Albert J. Boudreau, a retired federal executive and former Vienna Town Council member who pressed hard for the creation of the Vienna Town Green, died of a heart attack in Trinity, Fla., on Nov 3. He was 78.Boudreau had undergone surgery on Oct. 31 to repair and clean five valves around his heart, said Vienna Town Council member Michael Polychrones.
Council members said they were shocked by the death of their colleague, who they said contributed much to the town.
“I learned a great many things from Al, and I couldn’t have asked for a better friend,” Polychrones said. “Today, my Vienna is a little less happier place because of his passing.”
Polychrones recalled Boudreau’s advice to him: “You’d be surprised at what you can accomplish in the political sphere as long as you don’t care who gets the credit.”
Boudreau “was an excellent civic participant who had citizens of the town of Vienna at heart,” said Town Council member George Lovelace. “He did some things that we’ll always remember.”
Council member Edythe Kelleher said Boudreau had encouraged her to run for council.
“He was my mentor, and I’ve missed him since the day he left town,” she said.
Boudreau was born in New York City on June 19, 1930. He graduated from Bayside High School in Long Island, N.Y., studied engineering at the Pratt Institute/CREI and earned a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Maryland. He also undertook graduate studies in public administration at George Mason University and studied public administration at the Federal Executive Institute.
He served during the Korean War with the U.S. Air Force, working in the communications field and retiring as a technical sergeant after four years’ service.
Boudreau and his wife of 56 years, Alice, moved to Vienna in 1957.
Continue reading "Vienna Officials Mourn Passing of Former Town Council Member" »
November 01, 2008
Fiscal Toll? Comments (2)
It's not the stabbings we mind, it's how much money the stabbings cost us, eh?
Vienna's Polychrones Settles in as Head of Virginia Municipal League by BRIAN TROMPETER, Staff Writer (Created: Saturday, November 1, 2008 6:19 AM EDT)As the new president of the Virginia Municipal League (VML), Vienna Town Council member Michael Polychrones said he wants to help local governments weather state budget cuts, squarely address the thorny issue of illegal immigration and improve VML's rapport with General Assembly members.
“We're not being heard like we should be. Before this gets any worse, we should change the conversation with our state legislators,” said Polychrones, adding that Vienna's relationship with its General Assembly members is solid.
Polychrones, 48, was installed as VML president during the group's 103rd annual conference, held in Norfolk from Oct. 19 through 21.
Polychrones will chair a 13-member executive committee, which sets policy for the non-profit, nonpartisan statewide group. VML's membership includes 12 counties, 156 towns and all 39 cities in Virginia.
During a speech at the conference, Polychrones suggested forming an organization of past VML presidents to advise the executive committee on some matters.
“Who better to advise the league than those individuals who came before me?” he asked. “You gain the advantage of that experience.”
Polychrones also would like to commission a survey of league members, perhaps conducted by George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis, to determine illegal immigration's fiscal toll on local governments.
“How do we know what federal assistance to ask for unless we know what we're facing?” he asked. “This is a federal problem, but the feds have left us a huge and blind unfunded mandate to deal with because of their lack of enforcement.”
Other Polychrones priorities include protecting state public-safety and road-maintenance financing for localities.
Polychrones also plans to continue VML's Go Green Virginia environmental program, which was initiated last year by then-president Jay Fisette, a member of the Arlington County Board.
Polychrones, the son of Vienna Town Clerk Carol Orndorff, lives with his wife, Patti, in southwest Vienna. He is a program manager for the American Bankers Insurance Association in Washington, D.C.
A legislative aide for former Del. Richard Fisher from 1990 to 1995, Polychrones served on the Vienna Transportation Safety Commission during this period and later served on the Vienna Planning Commission.
Polychrones joined the nonpartisan Vienna Town Council in 1996 and left in 2003 to run as a Republican for the House of Delegates, a bid that failed. He was elected to the council again in 2004 and has served ever since.
Polychrones is the third Vienna official to serve as VML president. The late Mayor Charles Robinson held that post from 1983 to 1984 and former Town Manager C. Clay Harrell served in that role from 1974 to 1975.
Fisette said Polychrones' local-government experience and many years of work on VML's executive committee have prepared him well for the group's presidency.
“I think he will be a strong spokesperson on behalf of local governments in Richmond,” Fisette said. “In the contexts of budget cuts and revenue shortfalls that the state is experiencing, we'll need that voice.”
Fisette advised Polychrones to rely on his executive committee and take advantage of VML's talented staff.
Fisette and Polychrones both said that for all the current talk of Northern Virginia versus the “real Virginia,” VML members from around the state tend to be united on most issues affecting local government.
“I don't get the feeling that it's ‘us and them,'” Polychrones said. “We're all kind of in this together.”
