Stafford

Stafford County supervisors voted 4-2 on Aug. 18 to approve a proffer amendment for the Potomac Church Tech Center, correcting the district designation from Aquia to Falmouth. The ordinance advances the Amazon data center project with a new $10 million cash transportation contribution while retaining original Tier 2 emergency generators and limiting potable water use.

Applicant representative Charlie Payne told the Board of Supervisors the amendment removes an earlier request for an additional 113,000 gallons per day of potable water. Both buildings will now be capped at the original 217,000 GPD allowance previously approved for the site. Payne said the change came after design work showed the second building could operate within the existing limit once a reuse system is complete.

Stafford County drivers received more than 1,000 warnings between Aug. 11 and 14 for exceeding school-zone speed limits by 10 mph or more near three schools, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office reported.

The warnings went to motorists near Stafford Middle School, Colonial Forge High School, and Edward E. Drew Middle School. The cameras are part of a new automated speed enforcement program intended to encourage slower driving and reduce crashes around schools, not primarily to generate citations, according to the Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff David P. Decatur.

Three people were taken to a hospital with minor illnesses Saturday after a pepper ball was discharged inside a Wawa convenience store in Stafford County.

Stafford County Fire and Rescue crews responded around 5 p.m. to a hazardous materials call at the Wawa on Warrenton Road at Litchfield Boulevard. Firefighters isolated the area while investigating. The source was identified as a pepper ball, a self-defense tool that fires a projectile filled with a powdered chemical irritant, similar to pepper spray, and can be launched up to 150 feet.