CITY LEADERS SIGN LETTER OF INTENT TO MOVE P-NATS TO FREDERICKSBURG

This piece first appeared on PotomacLocal.com

FREDERICKSBURG — City leaders in Fredericksburg on Tuesday signed a letter of intent to move the Potomac Nationals from Woodbridge to Fredericksburg.

This comes after the announcement from the city and Potomac Nationals Owner, Art Silber agreed to a 30-year lease to move the team to Fredericksburg.

“This will be a privately financed stadium which is fairly rare,” said Fredericksburg Economic Development and Tourism Director Bill Freehling. “It would receive significant support from the City of Fredericksburg, $1.05 million for 30 years. However we do believe the stadium itself will regenerate the revenue.”

Freehling spoke highly of the stadium which will be a multi-purpose stadium. The team has said it wants to open the new facility in time for the 2020 season.

“The use of the stadium will be extremely important for 30 years,” Freehling said. “High School games, University of Mary Washington games, concerts, park and recreation activities, and an array of events that will bring in visitors to the City,” he added.

The next steps include a 120-day study period, public input, legislative approvals, stadium design, planning and financing, definitive agreements between Fredericksburg and Potomac Baseball, LLC, and finally construction.

The new stadium will be built on undeveloped land along Celebrate Virginia South near Wegmans and the Fredericksburg Expo Center.

“They [Washington Nationals] had to give us their permission to explore (Northern Virginia) … We have a strong feeling that the connection will stay,” Potomac Nationals Owner Art Silber said.

Silber failed to reach an agreement with officials in Prince William County last year to build a similar stadium behind a Wegmans grocery store at Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center.

The team announced its new partnership with Mary Washington Healthcare on July 9. The agreement represents the first partnership agreement for the new stadium project. The partnership will be further detailed as development plans for the stadium are refined in the coming months, Mary Washington Healthcare will enjoy numerous key benefits like opportunities for its Associates to attend games and use stadium facilities.

The P-Nats are engaged in discussions with other businesses in the region to partner with them on naming rights for the stadium, naming rights for its planned 300-seat club facility inside the stadium, and additional “founding partnerships.”

The team is also pursuing agreements for the 13 suites that are planned for the ballpark.

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MORE PLANES TO USE STAFFORD AIRPORT AFTER $12 MILLION EXPANSION COMPLETED

This piece first appeared on PotomacLocal.com

STAFFORD — The Stafford Regional Airport plans to expand its only runway by about 1,000 feet with construction starting in 2020 and ending in 2022.

The project was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and a meeting with adjacent landowners during a meeting held in 2015. The runway expansion will allow planes more room for takeoff, allowing them to travel non-stop to the west coast.

No taxpayer funds are used to support the Airport construction or operation.

“Funds generated via fuel sales and hangar leases on the Airport are used to cover the operation and maintenance costs of the Airport,” Airport Manager Ed Wallis said. “The Stafford Regional Airport does receive a small stipend ($150k total) from the three municipalities (Stafford County, Prince William County and the City of Fredericksburg) used for personnel costs and equipment maintenance.”

The longer runway would allow the airport to serve more pilots and more planes. The Airport has received some noise complaints recently.

There were three noise complaints in December about aircraft although none of them originated from Stafford Regional Airport.

There was one noise complaint in March, a helicopter was flying near the Stafford American Legion building and baseball fields for about 20 minutes after dark, according to airport director Ed Wallis.

Another complaint was filed in May about a helicopter using a searchlight.

The runway extension is supported by the Stafford Regional Airport Authority and Stafford County Board of Supervisors. The extension has been included as part of the long-term airport development plan and has been depicted on the FAA-approved Airport Layout Plan since 1993.

“We anticipate an increase in operations with the runway extension,” Wallis said. “Based aircraft are projected to increase from 70 in 2018 to approximately 115 by 2030 and we expect a larger number of transient aircraft to utilize the longer runway.”

The airport generated approximately $23.3 million in annual economic activity in 2017 according to the Virginia Department of Aviation Airport System Economic Impact Study, Nov 2017, placing it in the top 10% of all General Aviation airports in the Commonwealth.

“Benefits include an increased tax base and economic contribution from the airport as well as additional jobs from companies that seek to base offices in localities closer to their corporate flight departments,” Wallis said.

Once construction is complete, Stafford Regional Airport will have a single runway of 6,000 feet total length.

The current estimated cost for the construction is approximately $12 million.

The Airport Authority will be hosting a public information session on August 2 at 6:30 pm in the terminal at the Stafford Regional Airport, to answer questions about the runway extension and future of the airport.

​The Stafford Regional Airport opened in 2001 and used a modular trailer for an office until a new, $3.6 million passenger terminal opened in 2014.

STAFFORD’S NEWLY APPROVED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN INCLUDES SCHOOL RENOVATIONS, A NEW COURTHOUSE, NO ROAD IMPROVEMENTS

This piece first appeared on PotomacLocal.com

STAFFORD — The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted on the 2019-2028 Capital Improvement Plan during the June 19 meeting. The CIP was passed with a vote of 5-2.

The CIP was revised by the Finance, Audit and Budget Committee Meeting just hours before the Board voted on the final CIP.

The adjustments to the CIP include lowering the cost of a new courthouse building to $40 million, down from a proposed $52 million. The plan also includes new money for school improvements.

Mark Dudenhefer, Garrisonville District, frustrated with the CIP, said there were zero dollars for road projects included.

“The CIP included a line now that talks about a million dollars going into the road projects, but that money is not appropriated or guaranteed,” said Dudenhefer. “We will receive some additional based on the legislators passing of a floor on the gas tax, but that also is a diminishing dollar amount.”

Cindy Shelton, Aquia District, commented on her push for a pre-school for all children, not just special needs children.

“One of the interesting things we’ve learned in the past few years is that our children are basically formed by the time they go to school,” said Shelton. “One of the challenges we see as we go forward is what do we do about that? If we now know that all children need to be going to school earlier then we need to have a vision for all those children.”

Jack Cavalier, Widewater-Griffis District, has overseen 15 CIP documents and said that the current CIP was the most expensive he’s ever seen.

“It was by far the most work and the most deliberation that’s ever been put into one so for anybody to think that we didn’t consider this thoughtfully they’re seriously remiss,” said Cavalier.

This was the first year of a joint-process with the Stafford County School Board. Board members saw some ups and downs but are hopeful to make next year better.

“I don’t ever want to do another year like this,” said Cavalier. “Almost all the projects are school related so we have recognized that need in the community.”

The newly approved renovation of Ferry Farm Elementary was very high on the School Board’s list of improvements and Tom Coen’s, George Washington District. A portion of the school will be demolished to make way for a new 22,000 square foot addition that includes a new library.

​“When I got on this board, Ferry Farm had not been dealt with for a decade,” said Coen. “The idea of trying to do rebuilds, building new elementary schools, and building everything that everybody wants was not possible so the goal had to be doing something credible, realistic, and meaningful to Ferry Farm and doing it as soon as possible and this CIP does that.”

STAFFORD BUSINESS LEADERS TOLD COLLEGE GRADS FLEEING VIRGINIA IN RECORD NUMBERS

This piece first appeared on PotomacLocal.com

STAFFORD — Virginia is facing a big problem when it comes to college graduates. 

There are more college graduates leaving Virginia for other U.S. states than moving into Virginia from other U.S. states. The most common reason that college graduates are moving out of state is to pursue a job opportunity.

Washington, D.C. tops the list of metro areas where college grads are moving to, followed by San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., Denver, and Austin, Tex., according to a new report from Inc. Magazine. 

In the past five years, Virginia has plummeted to 36 out of the 50 states in total employment, 42 in gross state product, and 46 in total median income.

​These facts were presented by Stephen Moret who is part of the Virginia Economic Partnership and was the keynote speaker at the annual 2018 Stafford County Economic Development office awards dinner at Potomac Point Winery.

“The best thing we can do to position Virginia to retain more college graduates, as well as to attract college graduates from other states, is to increase employment growth in Virginia,” said Moret. “We recently developed a comprehensive plan to do just that, but the implementation of that plan is largely dependent upon new state investments in economic development activities.”

Virginia was generally experiencing a positive net migration of college students until 2013. Afterward, the state has experienced a steep decline of 2,000 to 7,000 graduates each year that are leaving.

“They [college graduates] will be going to large metro areas and relatively rapidly growing states,” said Moret.

According to Moret, the total net migration, including international migration is still positive but interstate migration has gone from positive to negative.

Virginia is starting to become a harder place to start a business now due to the decrease in net migration.

“Virginia is a great place to start a business but because our growth has been constrained relative to what it used to be folks are seeing more economic opportunity in other places,” said Moret.

Although many might think that Northern Virginia’s economy is shielded from all the negative net migration that’s not necessarily the case.

“As sequestration has occurred and growth has slowed down there have been periods of out-migration from Northern Virginia as well,” said Moret.

One way to stop the problem of the decrease in net migration is to put Virginia into a position for more growth.

​“Virginia needs to take a more assertive approach to economic development,” said Moret. “Most other states have been far more aggressive than Virginia,” said Moret. “Virginia has had the advantage of having the federal government right at our back door driving roughly 30 percent of our economy.”

STAFFORD STUDENTS WILL HEAD BACK TO CLASS BEFORE LABOR DAY STARTING IN 2019

This piece first appeared on PotomacLocal.com

STAFFORD — Stafford County Public Schools students will head back to class before Labor Day next year.

The School Board voted in favor of a pre-Labor Day calendar with a result of 5-2.

The 2019-2020 school calendar shows the first semester will start on August 12 and end on December 20, before Winter Break, with a Professional Day on January 6, 2020.

The Winter Break will start on December 23 and end on January 3, 2020. The second semester will begin on January 7 and end on May 27 with a Professional Day on February 14. Spring Break will start on March 16 and end March 20.

The 2020-2021 calendar will include a pre-Labor Day start as well. The first semester will start on August 10 and end on December 18 with a Professional Day on January 4. The Winter Break will start on December 21 and end on January 1. The second semester will begin on January 4 and end on May 26. Spring Break will begin on March 15 and end March 19.

School Board member Irene Egan, Aquia District, motioned for the early start during Tuesday night’s meeting. Meanwhile, Dwyane McOsker, George Washington District, motioned for the post-Labor Day start. Egan’s motion was seconded by Holly Hazard, Hartwood District, McOsker’s motion was not seconded and failed right as the discussion took place.

“I think everyone knows my position on this, it’s not because other people are doing it or anything else…I’ve heard from my constituents, I’ve heard from the teachers in my district and while all of you have your people that you have to represent I’m representing mine,” said Egan. “The majority of my district would like the pre-Labor Day start and that’s what I’m voting for.”

School Board member Dr. Sarah Chase, Falmouth District, was also a supporter in the pre-Labor Day start citing her focus to the question was instruction

“I began by calling principals in my district asking them that if there was any instructional reason for them to favor one calendar over the other,” said Chase. “I heard no instructional reasons in favor of starting after Labor Day. However, I heard a number of instructional reasons for starting before Labor Day.”

McOsker, still in favor of a post-Labor Day start listed a “ McOsker’s Top 10 Reasons Why I Don’t Support a Pre-Labor Day Start.” The highlights of his list include an increase of electric bills and how an earlier start does not increase test scores.

“As we have heard let’s get back to teaching because there is absolutely no testing data to support any benefit from starting before Labor Day,” said McOsker. “Right now we have 266 buses in Stafford County Public Schools, 196 are the mainstream buses, 66 buses are for special needs students and four other buses,” said McOsker. “Only 12 of the 196 mainstream buses have air conditioning, while one of the 66 special needs buses have air conditioning. So if this pre-Labor Day calendar is approved, we will have one year to come up with the money to retrofit our buses which I think is the right thing to do.”

School Board Members that in favor of the calendars included, Egan, Hazard, Chase, Jamie Decatur, Griffis-Widewater District, and Pamela Yeung, Garrisonville District.

​School Board Members that were against the calendars included, McOsker and Patricia Healy, Rock Hill District.

Stafford County now joins its neighbor to the north, Prince William County which also starts school before Labor Day.

EXCLUSIVE WITH STAFFORD CHAIRMAN MEG BOHMKE ON FERRY FARM: EXPECT RENOVATIONS, NOT REBUILD

This piece was first published on PotomacLocal.com

STAFFORD — The Stafford County Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday, June 5 to consider adopting the 2018-2019 capital improvement plan.

Earlier in May, the Board heard from the members of the county’s infrastructure committee about a plan to build an addition to the current courthouse. County officials have planned to redevelop the area at the intersection of Route 1 and Courthouse Road, for several years, around the existing courthouse into an area called “downtown Stafford.”

“At first we believed it would be good to have a new Courthouse across Courthouse Road with some mixed-use buildings,” said Falmouth District Supervisor Meg Bohmke. “However after meeting with our development team, they have advised the County to improve the current Courthouse building on the current administrative building site and use the land across the street for an entire mixed-use project since the County owns most of the land.

The estimated cost of the new courthouse is $52 million, down from $71 million, a figure that officials tossed out earlier this year.

“We anticipate that this project will not have an impact on the county debt service or bond rating,” said Bohmke. “We are continuing to work with our development consultant team and please know the Board of Supervisors has not voted on the new downtown project and Courthouse expansion project at this time.”

The Board of Supervisors has had many joint meetings with the County School Board this year to discuss the schools CIP projects, such as the rebuild/renovation of Ferry Farm Elementary in southern portion of the county , as well as the purchase of the vacant Fredericksburg Christian School in North Stafford to house students in the school division’s head start and the pre-k programs. Right now, they’re housed in each elementary school buildings across the county.

The building of a new Courthouse and/or renovation of the existing Courthouse will directly impact the ability to fund a rebuild/renovation of Ferry Farm Elementary, as well as a new high and elementary school which are also needed to address the growing student population in the school system.

“Members of each Board are concerned about the money that should be set aside for Ferry Farm Elementary school given its current old status,” said Bohmke. “The schools A/C and Heating system needs replacement along with other technological improvements. The entire basement of Ferry Farm is not being utilized for educational purposes due to the air quality problems in the basement area.”

Current conversations from the Board, Ferry Farm will most likely be a renovation, not a rebuild. The Board typically votes on rebuilds when they are adding capacity to a school. However, this has not been voted on and could change in the final vote.

STAFFORD — The Stafford County Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday, June 5 to consider adopting the 2018-2019 capital improvement plan.

Earlier in May, the Board heard from the members of the county’s infrastructure committee about a plan to build an addition to the current courthouse. County officials have planned to redevelop the area at the intersection of Route 1 and Courthouse Road, for several years, around the existing courthouse into an area called “downtown Stafford.”

“At first we believed it would be good to have a new Courthouse across Courthouse Road with some mixed-use buildings,” said Falmouth District Supervisor Meg Bohmke. “However after meeting with our development team, they have advised the County to improve the current Courthouse building on the current administrative building site and use the land across the street for an entire mixed-use project since the County owns most of the land.

The estimated cost of the new courthouse is $52 million, down from $71 million, a figure that officials tossed out earlier this year.

“We anticipate that this project will not have an impact on the county debt service or bond rating,” said Bohmke. “We are continuing to work with our development consultant team and please know the Board of Supervisors has not voted on the new downtown project and Courthouse expansion project at this time.”

The Board of Supervisors has had many joint meetings with the County School Board this year to discuss the schools CIP projects, such as the rebuild/renovation of Ferry Farm Elementary in southern portion of the county , as well as the purchase of the vacant Fredericksburg Christian School in North Stafford to house students in the school division’s head start and the pre-k programs. Right now, they’re housed in each elementary school buildings across the county.

The building of a new Courthouse and/or renovation of the existing Courthouse will directly impact the ability to fund a rebuild/renovation of Ferry Farm Elementary, as well as a new high and elementary school which are also needed to address the growing student population in the school system.

“Members of each Board are concerned about the money that should be set aside for Ferry Farm Elementary school given its current old status,” said Bohmke. “The schools A/C and Heating system needs replacement along with other technological improvements. The entire basement of Ferry Farm is not being utilized for educational purposes due to the air quality problems in the basement area.”

Current conversations from the Board, Ferry Farm will most likely be a renovation, not a rebuild. The Board typically votes on rebuilds when they are adding capacity to a school. However, this has not been voted on and could change in the final vote.

​“We are still evaluating all of the options with the Courthouse project, Fredericksburg Christian School all while trying to find additional funds to fully renovate Ferry Farm Elementary,” Bohmke said. “I do not believe it is feasible to spend $10 million now for Ferry Farm and then to come back in 8-10 years and complete the remainder of the project.”

STAFFORD’S ANNUAL STUDENT FILM FESTIVAL STARTS FRIDAY

My first piece ever published for a professional news organization! I’ve come a long way since then.
This piece first appeared on PotomacLocal.com

STAFFORD — The fourth annual Stafford County Public Schools Film Festival will take place at Colonial Forge High School.

​The Film Festival was inspired by A.G. Wright Middle School students that wanted to make mini-feature.

Following the first mini film festival, it led to the creation of the A.G. Wright film club, with the help of club mentor Robert Long who inspired the countywide film festival.

“I contacted Gifted Resource teachers and video production teachers around the county to see if their students would like to submit films to the SCPS film festival,” Long said. “The only rules were that students needed to be involved with the pre-production, production, and post-production of their films. The second year we held our festival at [Mountvain View High School]. For the past two years, the film festival has been held at Colonial Forge High School.”

The Festival will include 20 films including a full feature and a mini-feature. Most students across the county submit film shorts 30 seconds to seven minutes in length.

“The films are student produced,” Long said. “The process of making a film is a very laborious process. A seven-minute film from start to finish could result in 30-40 hours to complete, from the writing to the final editing.”

In addition, the films clubs bring in volunteers to help the club members learn the art of filmmaking.

“We have volunteers [such as] Phil Snow, our parent volunteer, teaches an in-school field trip on Adobe premiere software, he also teaches video production during club meetings,” Long said. “Emilee Pelayo is our newest volunteer. She is a graduate of the Art Institute of Washington.”

The Stafford County Public Schools Film Festival is open to the public on May 11 and 12 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event is free, but the festival is asking for a $5 donation.

​“We want the public to come out and see what our SCPS independent filmmakers are producing,” Long said. “The event is an opportunity to see the best filmmakers in Stafford County Public Schools.”