Summer 2010 - New Woodbridge

Moving Toward A New Woodbridge Frank J. Principi Woodbridge District Supervisor Resident Better Neighborhoods Better Transportation, Economic Development, Woodbridge District Frankly Speaking the Woodbridge Vision quarterly. and you will automatically receive the electronic version of Please send your email address to [email protected] Woodbridge, VA 22191 Summer 2010 15941 Donald Curtis Drive, Suite 140 Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank J. Principi PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE PAID
WOODBRIDGE VA
PERMIT NO 196
Woodbridge Vision Recently, I got an earful from over 100 residents from the Marumsco Acres, Hills, Woods and Village that attended a Town Hall meeting I hosted in May at Fred Lynn Middle School. Joining me at the meeting was Police Captain Gregg Smith (Eastern District Commander), Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Steve Kersse, and Michelle Casciato, Neighborhood Services Division Chief. Each of us had brief opening remarks and the meeting was quickly turned over to the residents. Marumsco residents expressed specific concerns related to public safety and the appearance of their neighborhoods. Captain Smith addressed resident questions concerning day laborers, speeding, response times for non-emergency calls, expired tags, and parking violations. Ms. Casciato addressed overcrowding, property maintenance, and illegal signage. Panelists emphasized the need for residents to be proactive and provide specific details with future complaints. All Questions & Answers are available at www.NewWoodbridge.org. I have brought these concerns to the County’s “Community Maintenance Task Force” and work has already been started to address each compliant in a priority fashion. The Police Department has stepped up its enforcement activities and Neighborhood Services has initiated several cases that if not addressed by the property owner may have to be resolved by Prince William Circuit Court. I am receiving regular updates by staff on efforts to address the complaints. In This Issue Neighborhood Services is recruiting residents to join its Frankly Speaking ………...1 team to focus on these complaints and educate others 2010 Initiative …….…….....2 Economic Development….3 on Prince William’s zoning laws. Traffic-calming Better Transportation …...5 devices, signage, community clean-ups, and the Better Neighborhoods …...7 distribution of educational material are among the tasks Volunteer Opportunities..10 Around Woodbridge .......11 to be completed. If you are interested in joining the team, please call me at 703.792.4646 or email me at [email protected]. Sincerely, Frank J. Principi www.NewWoodbridge.org www.NewWoodbridge.org Citizen involvement, neighborhood preservation and a sense of community are key to New Woodbridge becoming a reality. The 2010 Initiative is a year long series of events to highlight our progress. There are two aspects of The 2010 Initiative. First are 20 activities or events that focus on revitalizing neighborhoods, enhancing economic development and improving transportation. The second is the removal or renewal of 10 abandoned properties in the Woodbridge District. 2010 Kickoff and Shear Scapes Landscaping CSX Donation Woodbridge Welcome Sign Businesses, organizations, nonprofits, community groups and individuals are encouraged to become part of the 2010 Initiative. Either plan your own event or participate in one currently on the calendar---make a difference! Listed below are examples of what we’ve done as well as planned events. I hope that you can join us for one or all of the events. Completed Events Summer 2010 Event: Rippon Lodge Community Picnic Location: Rippon Lodge Date: June 5, 2010 Event: North Woodbridge Comprehensive Plan Event: Woodbridge Lions Club Cleanup Event: Small Business Forum Location: Uncle Julio’s Date: June 24, 2010 Event: Potomac River Refuge Cleanup Event: Shearscapes Landscaping Event: Arbor Day Celebration Event: Veterans Park Cleanup Event: Metz Wetlands Cleanup Event: Marumsco Acre Lake Park Event: Graffiti Wipeout Day Location: TBA Date: Summer 2010 Event: Route 1/Route 123 Interchange Town Hall Meeting Location: TBA Date: September, 2010 Veterans Park/Marumsco Acre Marumsco Community Lake Park Cleanup Meeting Event: Elementary School Poster Contest Location: TBA Date: September 2010 Event: Storm Drain Labeling Location: Belmont Bay Date: September 18, 2010 Cleanup Event: National Public Lands Day Location: TBA Date: September 25, 2010 Event: Marumsco Community Meeting Event: VRE Ribbon Cutting Spring Cleanup Uncle Julio’s RioGrande Café Ribbon Cutting Event: Fall Cleanup Location: Route 1 Date: October, 2010 Event: Eagle Scout Project/ WPCCA Cleanup 2 Fall 2010 www.NewWoodbridge.org www.NewWoodbridge.org 11 Team Principi Needs You! Join Team Principi in improving your quality of life! Several volunteer opportunities are available no matter how few hours your have available. Tell us your interest and we will connect you to helping us implement the vision of a New Woodbridge. Woodbridge District Office: Needs volunteers to assist once a week with general administrative duties. Beautification Committee: Volunteers needed to help plan clean-up and landscaping activities. Meetings are held monthly during the day. Boards and Commissions: We are seeking applicants for a variety of Boards, Commissions, and Committees, including the Solid Waste Management Citizens Advisory Committee. Mailings/Special Events: Join the list of volunteers we can call with short notice when needed for large mailings and other one-time activities. North Woodbridge Plan Adopted Prince William County Supervisors last month approved major development plans for a 160 square acre area that will become the first ever urbanized area in the County. The plan was developed by residents, property owners, and County staff over the last three years and is located between I-95 and Route 1 in North Woodbridge. Supervisor Principi hailed it as the right plan, at the right time, for the right location. The ʺMaster Plan,ʺ an amendment to the County’s Comprehensive Plan, features hundreds of thousands of square feet of office and retail space, 2,5003,500 multi-family residential units, a 260-room hotel, marina, a heritage trail and plenty of open and green space throughout the area. The redevelopment plan will facilitate the redevelopment of the Countyʹs Eastern Gateway and maximize the use and views of the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers. This area will be the third waterfront community sandwiched between Old Town Occoquan and Belmont Bay. There are many ways to get involved and make a difference in your local government. Depending on your time, talents, and interests, we can connect you to a volunteer opportunity! On The Drawing Board Goals for the North Woodbridge Urban Mixed Use Area Master Plan: Citizens Budget Committee The members of the 2010 Woodbridge Budget Committee deserve a special “Thank You” for their time and diligence in reviewing the 20110 Prince William County Budget. Prior to its passage on April 27, these volunteers spent countless hours reviewing and analyzing the proposed budget, attending committee meetings and speaking at the pubic hearings. Their input and discussions helped Supervisor Principi make many difficult decisions during the budget process. Thanks to committee members: John Karhnak, Christopher Young, Kristina Emmiinger Cornelia Long, Ginny McKernan Bill Westhoff, Connie Moser and John Gray. 10 www.NewWoodbridge.org » Office: 500,000 to 750,000 gross square feet » Residential: 2,500 to 3,500 multifamily units » Retail: 250,000 to 500,000 gross square feet » Hotel: 260 rooms » Recreation: Occoquan Marina, Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, usable public open spaces Source: Prince William County By David Sherfinski, Examiner Staff Writer, May 19, 2010
www.NewWoodbridge.org 3 Economic Development cont’d
Better Neighborhoods cont’d
Supervisor Principi, The Woodbridge Potomac Communities Civic Association and Boy Scout Troop 450 sponsored a spring clean-up on May 22, 2010. Fifty-four volunteers spent an overcast morning picking up trash Phase 1 of a three part revitalization plan for and planting native plants along Jefferson Davis Highway from Dawson Marumsco Plaza is underway. A new roof, Beach Road to Annapolis Way. In one day they collected 2, 120 pounds of uniform signage and curb to storefront trash and planted 351 native plants. The plants were donated by Prince improvements should be completed by the end of William Wildlife Society, Prince William Master Gardeners and Linton Hall Monastery. In addition to the sponsoring organizations, volunteers from the summer. This facelift is designed to attract Shirley Construction, Woodbridge Women’s Club and the Woodbridge new tenants while retaining many of the current businesses. Rotary took part in the clean-up. Marumsco Plaza Gets A Facelift When Jamie Nalls and his partners purchased Marumsco Plaza, they planned to immediately begin construction of additional pad sites and restoration of the older stores. All their plans were put on hold when the economy took a down turn. After careful assessment and planning, they are now ready to move forward and invest more than $3 million dollars in the facelift. Once that is completed, they will begin construction on new pads along Jefferson Davis Highway. Woodbridge Potomac Communities Civic Association Any resident, business, non-profit organization or property owner in the Woodbridge Magisterial District, eighteen years of age or older, may be an Association member. Membership requires annual registration and attendance at least one meeting a year. The WPCCA currently has over 100 members. Please join the WPCCA and become part of creating a positive image for “New Woodbridge.” Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month in the Leesylvania Room at the Ferlazzo Building @ 7:00 pm. To register, please go to the website: www.NewWoodbridge.org. 4 www.NewWoodbridge.org Thanks to each of you for making a difference in our community. 2010 Arbor Day Celebration Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank J. Principi joined students at Woodbridge Middle School to celebrate Arbor Day. After planting a Flowering Dogwood and reading poems they had written about Arbor Day, students joined Supervisor Principi for pizza and informal group discussion. Arbor Day was founded 1885 by a gentleman named Sterling Morton in Nebraska. Since then groups and individuals around the world have planted millions of trees each year on Arbor Day. Supervisor Principi choose to plant a Dogwood because it is the Virginia State Tree and the flower of the Dogwood Tree is the State Flower. Since it is native to this area, the tree should thrive and grow to 30 or 40 feet. Students at Woodbridge Middle School participated in activities that stressed the importance of preserving our environment and the responsibility the students bear in protecting the earth, its waters, its wildlife and its trees. Supervisor Principi said he hopes the students will return when they are adults and show their children the tree they helped plant. It has been said that the “best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, the second best time is today” This tree is for the next generation. 9 www.NewWoodbridge.org Better Neighborhoods cont’d
A Community at Work Woodbridge area volunteers have spent countless hours picking up litter, landscaping, removing graffiti, painting, restoring signage, and sprucing up neighborhood parks, roadways and shoreline throughout Woodbridge. Woodbridge residents can be proud of their efforts and the sense of community we are building. The following activities took place in April and May. Prince William County Public Works teamed with high school students and Wetland Studies and Solutions employees to clean-up Metz Wetlands. They repaired and painted the observation blind, cleaned up interpretive signs, spruced up the memorial areas at the wetlands, and picked up 360 pounds of litter! That same day, volunteers from the Woodbridge Potomac Communities Civic removed another 30 bags of litter along Neabsco Creek. Shearscapes, a local landscape business, put their employees to work by landscaping the area around the Welcome to Woodbridge sign on Route 1. This is an on-going commitment of the company as part of a national grassroots effort that encourages landscaping professionals nationwide to give back. The Clean Community Council, Service Authority, and the Park Authority volunteers focused on Veterans Park and the Marumsco Acres Park Lake. Using kayaks to maneuver through the water, volunteers removed shopping carts, tires, lawn hoses, and old tools in the lake and around its perimeter. A local youth club from Harvest Life Church removed graffiti from fences, stores, and signs in Woodbridge. Another youth club from Occoquan Bible Church planted 25 Red Osier and 25 Silky Dogwood shrub seedlings along Route 1 near the VRE Woodbridge Station. Neabsco Creek Bridge Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Better transportation is one of the main tenets of the vision of a New Woodbridge. One of the most important transportation issues in the Woodbridge Magisterial District is alleviating the traffic for the last mile before reaching home. The Neabsco Creek Bridge has been a constant chokepoint for traffic and a flooding risk for several years. The Prince William Board of County Supervisors initiated the expansion of the Neabsco Bridge to 6 lanes and raised the bridge 12 feet above the Neabsco Creek. The Virginia Department of Transportation contracted with Phillips Construction to complete the project and they came in ahead of schedule and under budget. The project culminated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton. Supervisor Principi’s remarks at the ceremony focused on the benefits of taxpayer monies in assisting local businesses, shortening commuter time, and protecting the Neabsco watershed. Friends of the Potomac Refuges and volunteers from several local trail groups picked up litter in the Featherstone Wildlife Refuge, behind VRE’s Rippon Station. A Lake Ridge Boy Scout Troop and the Woodbridge Civic Association worked together to clean-up and landscape along Route 1. This was organized as an Eagle Scout project and included free pizzas for all 54 volunteers. 8 www.NewWoodbridge.org www.NewWoodbridge.org 5 Better Transportation cont’d
VRE Woodbridge Station Ribbon Cutting VRE riders are enjoying a pedestrian overpass and second platform at the Woodbridge Virginia Railway Express Station after it opened on May 12, 2010. The $10.4 million expansion project includes a three-story elevator tower at the parking garage, a 142-foot pedestrian bridge that crosses the tracks and ends at the new 600-foot long platform. It also includes the costs associated with moving the tracks slightly closer to the new platform and a future Kiss & Ride Lot. Community Picnic at Rippon Turn back the clock to the beginning of the 20th century and join us for an old fashion Community Picnic at Rippon Lodge on Saturday, June 5, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Your family will have a great time at this free event sponsored by Woodbridge District Supervisor, Supervisor Frank J. Principi, Prince William Historic Preservation, and the 4-H Clubs of Prince William. Bring a blanket and picnic lunch and we will At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Supervisor Principi stated provide the fun! No “VRE is a lynchpin for new growth and prosperity coming to matter your age there will Woodbridge and Prince William County. These be activities for you and improvements will help develop a more upscale environment your family to enjoy. as we merge traditional urban conveniences with tranquil You can play old fashion neighborhood settings.” games such as croquet, lawn bowling and marThe two platforms will give VRE more flexibility at the bles or sit and enjoy the station, since passengers now will have access to both sets of music and wonderful tracks -- something that could prove useful if a passenger or view. In addition to these activities, there will be a petting freight train stalls on one track, VRE officials said. The new zoo, craft activities, nature programs, dancing, hayrides and platform will also open up the possibility of expanding exhibitors. service in North Woodbridge as the area redevelops. 6 www.NewWoodbridge.org www.NewWoodbridge.org 7