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Stafford leaders approve Downtown Stafford concept, while residents wary of more traffic

By Rick Horner
A rendering of Fountain Park, located next to the Stafford County Courthouse (lower right), a development that could have nearly 1,000 new apartment homes in buildings as tall as five stories.

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors moved closer to making Downtown Stafford a reality.

Supervisors held a public hearing on Tuesday and then voted four to three to adopt a plan that would conceptualize what the downtown project would look like as well as changes in the plan that would support the development. Also included were revisions to the zoning that would support the project's development.

The project site is located near the county's iconic courthouse, and across from Stafford Hospital.

However, residents continue to be wary of potential problems such as traffic and higher taxes.

Stafford County residents spoke their minds, and most said they were unsupportive of the project as it is. The goal of the Downtown Stafford project is to create an area that would be a mix of retail, residential, and government buildings that would attract people, similar to Downtown Fredericksburg.

They plead with the board to vote no on the matter due to the possibility of increased traffic in an area that -- located on Route 1, a major county thoroughfare -- already has many traffic issues. Drivers said two signal lights on Route 1, near the county's courthouse, continuously slow traffic in that area.

Many who spoke said the downtown project would make traffic worse.

Others were concerned with the potential for a high tax burden that could potentially be placed on the shoulders of residents. One resident, Mike Rodriguez, was concerned that the funds used to develop the project could be put to better use in improving county roads and building more schools.

Some were in favor of the project, such as Hank Scharpenberg who acknowledged that there were some issues to work out which included concerns with traffic.

After the assembled residents had spoken, many on the board made their thoughts on the subject known. Falmouth District Supervisor Meg Bohmke expressed reservations due to the fact that when the issue was brought to the county's Planning Commission the result was an approval of the comprehensive plan but by a four to three vote which Bohmke considered a red flag.

"I would really like to have a Downtown Stafford but I don't think this plan is ready for a vote. We may be getting a little too ahead of ourselves."

Hartwood District Supervisor Gary Snellings also decided to oppose the resolution citing that no traffic impact study had been made by the Virginia Department of Transportation nor was there a report on how it would affect county services. The lack of these reports and other issues were enough to convince Snellings to oppose the measure.

George Washington Supervisor Tom Coen, who declared being skeptical of the project, reiterated that the vote would be about a concept which could be changed at any time. Because of this, Coen felt that the plan could be voted on and adjusted going forward should things not work out.

"We have a lot of control over this, it's in a conceptual phase. I plan to keep an eye on this and we'll take things out if they're not working."

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Exclusive: Prince William wants to create public park at site of Thoroughfare cemeteries

By Uriah Kiser

Prince William County will consider purchasing at least five pieces of property in the wake of the Thoroughfare cemetery controversy.

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Residents to speak out Wednesday on plan to expand Vulcan Quarry

By Rick Horner

The Stafford County Planning Commission will hold a special meeting regarding a proposed expansion of the Vulcan Quarry.

Residents of the Eastern View neighborhood, located across from North Stafford High School, have voiced concerns over the proposed 23-acre expansion of the Stafford quarry just off Route 610 in North Stafford, on which additional mining will take place. Originally opened in 1976 2001, Vulcan now plans to build a concrete manufacturing plant on the grounds to go along with an already existing asphalt manufacturing plant.

Area residents will have the opportunity to speak at the special meeting. Over the last few months, many residents have expressed displeasure with the idea of the expansion citing issues such as increased noise due to the removal of trees to make way for the expansion.

Other issues such as pedestrian safety for children were brought up as recently as March. The concern is that the extra mining would mean extra trips by heavy trucks that worry parents about potential accidents.

The special meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 14 at 6 p.m. at North Stafford High School.

Vulcan Materials, a Birmingham, Ala. based company, operates in 30 states as well as Washington D.C. with over 62 facilities located in the Commonwealth of Virginia including the Stafford Quarry which has been in operation since 1978.

The quarry mines Amphibolite, which is a common stone used in construction, paving, and building for residential, commercial, industrial projects.



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Virginia Senator Amanda Chase tours Arizona forensic election audit

By Uriah Kiser
Chase

A representative from the Virginia State Senate is just back from a trip to Arizona, where she toured the largest forensic audit of the November 3, 2020, General Election. 

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Failing concrete to be repaired at two Stafford County water treatment plants

By Rick Horner

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors has authorized repair work to be done at two Stafford wastewater treatment plants, one located in the Aquia District, in the northern portion of the county, and the other at Little Fall Run Treatment plant in the George Washington District, near Fredericksburg.

Both plants have had issues with distressed concrete due to the stormwater sewage filtration systems that treat and sanitize sewer runoff. Two filtration systems at the Aquia plant and another at the Little Fall Run plant have issues with concrete distress which includes cracks in the concrete surface. 

The Aquia plant handles an average water flow of six million gallons per day while the Little Fall Run plant's average amount is three-and-a-half million gallons each day.

The county has retained the services of Denmark-based consultancy group Ramboll Engineering to design the repairs of the filtration systems which will address the issues of cracks, surface damage, and joint repairs. The company that will carry out the actual repair work, Wisconsin-based Creative Maintenance Solutions LLC, will be nearly $470,000 for their labor out of the County's Public Works Utilities Enterprise Fund.

Creative Maintenance will use an epoxy-based composite product that has been found to be successful at addressing issues of concrete repair. The composite is created by United Kingdom-based company Belzona and can withstand pressures of over 10,000 pounds per square inch.

Another company, the Nokesville-based Keystone Waterproofing & Restoration, was also in the running for the repair contract but was underbid by Creative Maintenance. Creative made a bid of nearly $469,000 while Keystone's was higher at $657,800.

The repair projects at the wastewater treatment plants are being planned to occur in a way that will limit any interruption to the operations of both plants.

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5 stories, 52 apartments — ‘The Mill at Occoquan’ heads to public hearing Tuesday

By Potomac Local News
An artist rendering of the Mill at Occoquan.

Should the tiny town of Occoquan allow a five-story building to be constructed on the riverfront?

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Another Stafford bridge to be rebuilt; VDOT vows to complete this one on time

By Rick Horner
Truslow Road Bridge over I-95 [Photo: VDOT ]

The American Legion Bridge in Stafford County -- a two-lane bridge that carries traffic over Interstate 95, just north of the Stafford Regional Airport -- is about to close for nine months.

The Stafford County Infrastructure Committee received an update from the Virginia Department of Transportation about the upcoming closure of the bridge and the detours that will be used during that period.

The bridge will be replaced to accommodate the construction of two reversible I-95 E-Pass Express Lanes, as part of a project to extend the lanes south from Garrisonville Road to Route 17 near Fredericksburg. The Truslow Road Bridge, about 10 miles south of the American Legion Bridge, was also replaced to accommodate the new lanes. It reopened in April, five months behind schedule.

The update, presented by VDOT Mega Projects Engineer Robert Ridgell, outlined how traffic will be diverted during the nine months that the American Legion Bridge will be under reconstruction.

The planned detour will use the Centreport Parkway interchange at milepost 136 to get around the bridge and get onto Ramoth Church Road. VDOT will also coordinate with school transportation officials in order to inform them about the detours as the closure date gets near.

VDOT is planning to use lessons learned from the Truslow Bridge experience and apply them to the American Legion Bridge project in order to avoid the same mistakes and getting behind schedule.

The Truslow project ran into several issues that caused delays leading to the additional five months before its reopening. Four of those months were spent on redesigns of the foundations and piling which would have affected the quality of the bridge. Those delays combined with the coronavirus pandemic interrupting the work of the design and bridge crews brought down the work rates that would have brought the bridge to completion on time, said Ridgell. 

Ridgell vowed to the committee that VDOT had created risk mitigation plans that were designed due to the Truslow Bridge issues, one such mitigation would be the imposition of lane rental charges that would be made to the construction crew if they fail to make the completion date.

The American Legion Bridge is scheduled to be closed by January 2022 for this reconstruction.

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Meadery to expand into Fredericksburg following permit approval

By Rick Horner

A special use permit applied for by Haley's Honey Meadery has been approved by the Fredericksburg City Council.

Haley's, which is located in Hopewell over an hour south of Fredericksburg, will soon open a second location in the city. Haley's will be located at the old Pure Gas Station on Princess Anne Street and is currently under construction to be rebuilt as a tasting room and specialty restaurant.

The conditions of the special use permit will allow Haley's to operate a tasting room that will allow customers to sample ciders, mead, and wine which are made in Virginia. The permits also allow Haley's to sell those types of alcoholic beverages, none of those beverages will be made in the Fredericksburg restaurant but instead will be shipped up from their main location in Hopewell.

Haley's owner Tonya Haley told Potomac Local News that she was attracted to the area because of the upcoming breweries, wineries, and distillers that have come to the city over the last few years. The owners of those establishments and other members of the community brought the growing vibrancy and economic development to Haley's attention which encouraged her decision to open a new location in Fredericksburg.

Haley hopes to have the Fredericksburg location open before August.

Haley's will open in the Canal Quarter of the city which has been rezoned along with several nearby areas as a Creative Maker zone. The goal of the zone is to attract new and innovative businesses and allow them to create an identity that will make them unique and add to the charm and appeal of Fredericksburg.

"I'm looking forward to joining the Fredericksburg community," says Haley.

Haley's Honey Meadery will be located at 1600 Princess Anne Street in Downtown Fredericksburg and plans to operate from noon to 10 p.m. once it's open.

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Stafford will use stimulus funds for disaster preparedness consulting

By Rick Horner

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors has approved the use of funds obtained from the American Rescue Act, the latest round of federal stimulus money, to pay a consulting firm on how to better prepare for disasters such as the coronavirus pandemic in the future.

The county will pay $80,208 to IEM, an emergency management firm based in Morrisville, N.C. According to its website, IEM works with government entities and private sector organizations around the world to improve disaster preparedness. Their company's areas of focus are in response and recovery, homeland security and defense, public health, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure.

The County's approval of the use of these funds to pay IEM was also an official acceptance of the funds which will be received in two separate portions for a grand total of $28.7 million. The first portion was received in May 2021 totaling $14.9 million from which the payment to IEM will come.

Stafford County Public Schools are also expecting to receive $14.9 million with the stipulation that 20% of that total be used to address the extended gaps in student's education due to the closing down of schools due to the pandemic.

The County has also set aside a total of $1,7 million which is to be used for one-time and pandemic supported projects.

The second portion of the ARPA funding which would be a sum of $13.8 million is expected to be received by Stafford County sometime later this year.

Stafford County has lost 82 residents to the coronavirus, while neighbors Prince Willaim and Spostylvanaia lost 501 and 124 people, respectively.

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I-95 Rappahannock River bridge construction set to wrap earlier than scheduled

By Rick Horner
Rappahannock River bridge carries I-95 over the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg [VDOT]

In encouraging traffic news, the Stafford County Infrastructure Committee received news from the Virginia Department of Transportation that two major road projects are on track for completion -- one set to be done on time and another ahead of schedule.

One project, the Interstate 95 Southbound Rappahannock River Crossing project is expected to be completed ahead of schedule, according to Virginia Department of Transportation Mega Projects Engineer Robert Ridgell. The project involved constructing three new lanes from Exit 133, at Route 17 to milepost 130, at Route 3, separating local and long-distance traffic.

  • The project also reconstructed three of the four bridges that run over Route 17.

The project which began in August 2018 was originally scheduled to be completed in May 2022 but is now on track for an early completion for December 2021. VDOT plans to make traffic switches to the new lanes in September with the new Route 17 bridges, plans are also being outlined for major traffic shifting upon the projected completion of the bridge in December.

Ridgell also says the committee that an I-95 Northbound Rappahannock River Crossing Project, on the opposite side of the highway from the southbound portion of the project, is on schedule to meet its May 2024 completion deadline. Construction on the project began in October 2020 which involved constructing three new lanes from Fall Hill Avenue, just south of the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg to Exit 133 at Route 17 in Stafford County, which will also separate local and long-distance traffic.

A new fourth lane will also be constructed from Route 17 to Centreport Parkway, near the Stafford Regional Airport. A pedestrian crossing being constructed under I-95 at Route 17.

The "Fred-Express" ramp, part of the extension of the I-95 E-ZPass toll lanes, is on track for its scheduled completion in October, said Ridgell. 

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