November 30 – December 7, 2006
F.C. City Council Adopts ‘Vision Statement’
The Falls Church City Council unanimously adopted a two-page “Vision Statement” Monday that spelled out how it would like to see Falls Church look in 2025. The preamble to the document reads, “In 2025, Falls Church is a small city that respects its citizens and provides personal attention to meeting their needs. It is a wonderful place to live, work, and shop, offering diversity in housing, amenities, and services. Its historic charm reflects the stewardship of residents and their local government. It is built on a human scale, where visitors and residents alike can find everything they need while experiencing the fabric of life in a friendly, close-knit community. Falls Church is a shining example of a city that has been able to retain the benefits of small town life, while remaining financially sustainable, and a full participant in one of our nation’s most dynamic metropolitan areas.” The sections of the document are titled, “Successful Development,” “World Class Public Schools,” Neighborhood Preservation and Community Life,” “Diversity,” Environmental Harmony,” “Innovation,” “World Class Government and Public Outreach,” and “A Special Place.”
Purchase of S. Lee St. Residence OK’d for Open Space
A residence at 215 S. Lee Street in the City of Falls Church that went on the market earlier this month was snatched up quickly by the City, with an initial contract consummated by a unanimous vote of the Falls Church City Council Monday. The price tag was $629,000. While the City has no official plans yet for what will happen with the property, it was clearly purchased with the idea that it would serve as a point of entry onto the Hamlett-Rees undeveloped land behind it, which the City purchased to add to its stock of open space for $1.1 million earlier this year. The plan will most likely involve demolishing the current home at the S. Lee address and the use of the land for parking and a welcoming entrance to the Hamlett-Rees tract. The Council supported adamantly the notion that Hamlett-Rees would remain completely undeveloped, as it now is. None of the neighbors to the S. Lee address who showed up to protest the move last week before the Planning Commission were back to speak up prior to Monday’s City Council vote. As with the Planners last week, the Council vote was unanimous, and came with the promise of working closely with the neighborhood on the next steps for the property. The money for the purchase will come from the City’s designated Open Space Fund.
New Exec Director for F.C.-Based N. Va. AIDS Ministry
The Rev. Father Rusty S. Smith has been named the new executive director of the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry, a Falls Church-based non-profit that provides a wide array of HIV/AIDS prevention and AIDS victim services. Rev. Smith served as executive director of Emmaus Services for the Aging and Emmaus Rehabilitative Services in the District of Columbia. He brings to NOVAM over 16 years of non-profit management experience and a strong background in “applied social justice, organizational re-development, and mission focused program delivery,” according to a NOVAM statement. He is an ordained Anglican priest within the Evangelical Anglican Church with a B.A. from Loyola University and a Masters of Divinity from the Anglican Institute. He will join the NOVAM staff Dec. 1. He replaces Nathan Monell, who long held the NOVAM post until he moved to another non-profit position last summer. NOVAM will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year.
Methamphetamine Awareness Day Today
The Fairfax County Police Department is taking part in the National Meth Awareness Day today, Nov. 30. The objective is to educate as many people as possible about the dangers of methamphetamine. Although methamphetamine labs have not been discovered in Fairfax County, the drug is available for illicit purchase in the area, according to a police statement. Detectives from the department’s Organized Crime and Narcotics Division have completed several initiatives to ensure compliance with new laws restricting the sale of over-the-counter ingredients for the illicit manufacture of the drug, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Clerks or owners of four different Fairfax County businesses have been charged with illicitly selling the ingredients since July. Sgt. James Cox was slated to present “Meth 360,” a program that has educated hundreds about the dangers and consequences of meth use, to a gathering at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner this morning.
