PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Jackie Gaston is throwing her hat in the ring for Coles District School Board.
She’s a special education teacher in Fairfax County as well as a mother of three boys whose experience with PTO’s, meetings in the schools, and school improvement planning teams for her own children in who attend Prince William County Public Schools led her to want to serve.
WOODBRIDGE — Leaders voted Tuesday to take the dredging of Neabsco Creek deeper.
The Prince William County Board of Supervisors authorized the dredging of public boat fairways that lead to the ramps used to put-in boats into the creek at the confluence of the Potomac River in Woodbridge. The additional cost brings the total for the project approved last fall to just under $1 million.
FREDERICKSBURG — The Fredericksburg City Council voted to cut a break to furloughed federal workers who live in the city.
At a meeting on January 22, the council voted unanimously to postpone the payment deadline for about 1,800 personal property tax bills for city residents that were due on January 31.
WOODBRIDGE — It’s been over a year since the Prince William County Board of Supervisors voted to overhaul the fire department.
The move gave ultimate authority to the “system chief” who is to oversee both career and volunteer firefighters and emergency services crews. Prior to the move, the volunteers largely took what the career chief said under advisement while volunteer chiefs retained most authority for their respective firehouses.
DUMFRIES — For the very first time, the Mayor of Dumfries will host a ball.
Mayor Derrick Wood will host the “Black and White Ball” April 13 at 7 p.m. Wood says he is organizing this event to raise scholarship funds for high school seniors who want to attend trade colleges.
STAFFORD — The Stafford Education Association is pushing the county School Board to reschedule a teacher workday so instructors may go to Richmond to lobby lawmakers for higher wages.
The association wants the workday, which is used for teachers to finalize grades for the first semester moved to Monday, Jan. 28 from Tuesday, Jan. 29. The planned workday has been on the books since last year when the school division approved its annual calendar.
STAFFORD — Stafford County leaders may not be feeling as generous as they once did when it comes to tax breaks.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will discuss whether or not to rescind an offer of up to $6.5 million in tax breaks for the owners of Aquia Town Center, Baltimore-based Mosaic Property Group – Maryland Financial Investors.
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — What should the future of parks and recreation amenities in Prince William County look like? Members of the community will get a chance to answer that in an upcoming forum on January 26.
The forum is just one part of a concerted effort the county has made in hearing what residents want more of in their parks. It is the last planned community forum at this time, so anyone interested is encouraged to come and share their ideas.
STAFFORD — In the effort to improve traffic flow northbound at Interstate 95 and Route 17, officials have two options.
The first design is VDOT’s “base” option which is within the project’s budget, which takes away the northeast ramp for traffic exiting I-95 north and entering Route 17 North. Getting rid of the loop essentially prevents traffic from slowing down as other drivers try to merge get on and off I-95 on the same stretch of road in the existing a collector-distributor lane.
WOODBRIDGE — When it comes to winning state funding for local road projects, Prince William County struck out.
None of the nine projects the county submitted last summer for consideration for Virginia Smart Scale funding — from improving Route 28 to easing bottleneck congestion on Interstate 95 south at Route 123 at Occoquan — made the cut for the latest recommended third-round of project funding.
