October 2009 Archives
October 31, 2009
Shot Back Across the Bow Comments (5)
Brehony writes at the Sun Gazette site:
"I would seek to clarify the statement that "several other people have asked to join the Committee." The T/BLC languished for over seven, coming up on eight months with two vacancies - Making it almost impossible for us to achieve a quorum and conduct scheduled meetings. Three of our last appointees over this past year have been at my own suggestion - All have subsequently resigned, primarily due to the inefficiencies of the Committee, and our lack of influence over the areas that we are charged to support.In so far as I know, there were NO persons in line to serve on the Committee, and I myself suggested my own replacement upon hearing of my dismissal.
If there are persons "in line", wishing to serve, I would be most interested in learning of who those persons are, who suggested their service, and at what time they became interested in serving on the Committee.
The Town Business Liaison Committee was originally established to support Town Businesses and ferret out ways that the Town might become more attractive to incoming economic resources. I am pained that we have become hobbled, and our mission has been reduced to restrict our services only to existing Town Businesses."
Kids, whoever said Seeman told the truth? Check the archives here on assorted issues to see how slimy Jane Seeman is.
"Hi, this is Jane Seeman and I'm calling to ask you to vote for Jim Hyland." Comments (12)
Robocalls from the Mayor?! Seriously?!
October 30, 2009
Ribbon Cuttings = Good; Economic Growth = Bad Comments (23)
You can almost hear Jane and Maud scolding Deborah Brehony like a little child: "Bad, Deborah, bad!"
Snafu Adds Another Layer to Rift Between Vienna Council, Critic
by Brian Trompeter
October 24, 2009
The Vienna Town Council on Oct. 5 voted to give Deborah Brehony a certificate of appreciation for her term on the Vienna Town/Business Liaison Committee (TBLC).
Two problems: Brehony’s term isn’t scheduled to expire until Nov. 19, not early October as town officials thought, and she was unaware the council did not plan to reappoint her to the committee.
Mayor M. Jane Seeman said the council decided not to ask Brehony to serve again because several other people have asked to join the committee and the council decided the group “needed to go in a new direction.”
Brehony “serves at the prerogative of the council and we decided it was time for a new appointment,” Seeman said. “We do that occasionally. It happens.”
One source of the rift, according to both sides, is that the committee recently had focused on economic development, rather than promoting Vienna businesses and serving as a liaison between them and town government.
“I think our committee was doing a good job thinking of ways to assist the economic growth of the town, to bring in new businesses and assist in growth of businesses that are here,” Brehony said.
The committee contacted the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority about available resources, and listened to a speaker from the county’s revitalization group, she said.
“Are those resources available to the town?” Brehony asked. “We could take advantage, but have not chosen to.”
Seeman said the Town Council does not wish to remake the TBLC, but rather examine its mission.
“They’ve been doing an excellent job of welcoming new businesses to town, arranging ribbon cuttings and following up later to see how they’re doing,” she added.
The seven-member committee, chaired by William Harrison, meets the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at Vienna Town Hall. Its mission is to study and make recommendations about matters affecting town businesses, as well as companies’ relationships with other parts of the community.
The committee last year had two vacancies that went unfilled for a considerable time, which meant that all remaining members had to be present to have a quorum at meetings, Brehony said.
One committee member, Chris Brunjes, resigned on Sept. 29 because of “new and increasing demands” on his time.
TBLC Vice Chairman Mark Uhron’s term expired on July 3. The Town Council has not been able to ask Uhron about serving on the committee again, because of an illness, town officials said. The council will conduct that interview with Uhron on Oct. 26, Seeman said.
Brehony formerly served on the Vienna Architectural Review Board and lost a bid for Town Council in 2007.
That council race ended bitterly, with Brehony and others charging that an election worker had told voters they had to vote for three candidates, when the law makes no such provision. That election worker was dismissed and officials from Fairfax County, not Vienna, began choosing officers for the town’s elections.
Brehony’s campaign spending also raised eyebrows among some local political observers, who were accustomed to low-budget races.
Seeman acknowledged that Brehony’s TBLC term will end in mid-November and apologized for the “unfortunate mistake.”
“Our files were just wrong on that,” she said. “I regret an error that caused a lot of problems. She’s on until that time.”
October 19, 2009
What is Vienna Planning These Days? Comments (4)
Herndon looks at options for downtown development
Design firm holds forum on master plan, with approximately 80 attending
Fairfax Times
by Gregg MacDonald
Tuesday October 13, 2009
Come Nov. 19, the Town of Herndon could have a blueprint for a whole new downtown.
Last week, Pittsburgh-based Urban Design Associates met both publicly and privately with members of Herndon's Town Council, staff and residents to get a feel for what is possible in a town where recent large-scale commercial proposals to revitalize the downtown have been shot down.
On Oct. 7, the firm, which was contracted to come up with a detailed proposal for a 10-block area within the downtown, held a "Downtown Master Plan Workshop" with approximately 80 town residents, property holders and business owners attending.
One anticipated part of the overall plan, according to Town Councilman Richard Downer, is to come up with development ideas for the Pines Shopping Center, owned by the Richmond Corporation. The shopping center has been the subject of council redevelopment talk for a long time.
"Tonight is all about learning what's going on in Herndon," said Paul Ostergaard, a principal with UDA. "What distinguishes Herndon from surrounding towns?" He noted the downtown buildings with "integrity and history," an "interesting infrastructure" and a "streetscape somewhat charming but also dysfunctional."
Ostergaard pointed out that while the downtown contains preferred commercially zoned areas, it also has "scattered buildings without much definition resulting in unused space in the downtown."
Last fall, a proposal by Diamond Properties to build a five-story Element hotel in the downtown area did not materialize, but it did lend a spark to the idea of a revitalized downtown, which led the Town Council to develop a master plan for the downtown area.
Many feel if the downtown is not redeveloped, it will die. However, some residents feel that although Herndon is in desperate need of revitalization, it should not lose its small-town feel in the process.
"Herndon neighborhoods have a feel to them that you can't manufacture," said councilman Downer at the Oct. 7 workshop.
"We have a local identity," resident Jennifer Woofter added. "We are not just another suburb on your way to the sticks."
Workshop attendees were broken into three groups and asked to come up with the town's perceived strengths, weaknesses and areas in need of change. They were then asked to mark their answers on a Herndon map with red stickers for weaknesses, green for strengths, and blue for areas in need of change.
The gamut ran from the very specific to the abstract. The W &OD Trail, for example, was almost unanimously listed by all as a plus. Some less tangent ideas were also brought forward, such as the town's apparent inability to attract a night crowd. At the end of the evening, Ostergaard and his associates took all the information and promised to come back on Nov. 19 with a detailed master plan.
October 14, 2009
Sidewalk Reconstruction in NW Comments (0)
No new sidewalk just a $130,000 repair for one block? When do new sidewalks begin in NW?
October 05, 2009
Classy, Dad. Comments (6)
Man Allegedly Shoves Boy, 13, After Skateboard Mishap Sun Gazette October 1, 2009Vienna police are looking for a man who allegedly pushed a boy after the youth’s skateboard struck the man’s son’s bicycle on Sept. 19.
The incident began when a 13-year-old boy fell off of his skateboard near Cherry and Center streets, S.E. The skateboard ended up on the sidewalk, where another boy ran into it while riding a bike.
The struck boy’s father, who had been riding a bicycle with his son, then allegedly grabbed the skateboard and threw it across the street.
A verbal altercation ensued between the father and the boy who had fallen off of the skateboard. At some point the argument became physical, police said.
The father allegedly began cursing and pushing the juvenile skater, police said. The skater then came to Vienna Police Headquarters nearby and reported the incident.
Both the father and son had fled the scene when police arrived to check the area. The father was described as a white male, in his 30s, wearing a white shirt and black shorts.
October 01, 2009
"Entertained?" Comments (1)
A stop sign is needed at this intersection and has for years:
Entertained a request by northwest Vienna resident Michele Dandrea Lowell to place a four-way stop sign at Lewis and West streets. That neighborhood has many four-way stops, but there is a two-way stop at that intersection that often befuddles drivers, she said.More than 75 percent (the required amount) of neighborhood residents have signed a petition favoring the sign, Lowell said. The council agreed to forward the stop-sign request to the Transportation Safety Commission.
“Now is the time,” said Council member George Lovelace. Safety at the intersection “gets worse and worse every year,” he said.
Source: Sun Gazette
