Blog posts are the personal views of Letty Hardi and not official statements or records on behalf of the Falls Church City Council

Dear Friends,

This was one of those weeks where what happened outside of our City Council meeting and outside of the votes we cast were most notable, with a lot of good news all around that you should know about:

• Good news: school enrollment, update on the Fellows Property, library annual report, and (finally) a resolution on a stretch of inaccessible sidewalk on Broad St.
• Last weekend, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the W&OD!
• Early voting starts in 1 week on Sept 20 – and when you vote, you’ll be getting a new student-created “I Voted” sticker

See you at the Falls Church Festival (and closing out our year-long 75th anniversary celebration), Welcoming Week, the Harvest Moon Festival at the Eden Center, and the 20th annual Run for the Schools – it will be a busy weekend! And next week, we’ll be hearing an update on the Greening of Lincoln project and discussing next steps at Virginia Village in work session.

Best,
Letty

What Happened This Week:

(1) 2024-2025 School Enrollment

As reported in this week’s School Board meeting, this year’s student enrollment numbers have come in line with the forecast, with 82 students more than last year, about a modest 3% growth as expected, with total enrollment at 2716 in the entire district. Note that the “official numbers” will be the count on September 30, but this early report is reassuring that the forecasting and capacity planning done has been effective.

The more eagerly-anticipated report will be the “where students live” data – where we can better drill down on the enrollment by housing type, which is an annual analysis done to refine our mixed use fiscal impact models. Last year’s analysis continued to show that 9% of students live in new mixed use buildings, 62% live in single family homes, and 29% live in older condos/apartments/townhouses. You can dive into the data from last year’s report here.

(2) Fellows Property, Library Annual Report, Sidewalk Progress

Fellows: We also got a briefing on the proposed park plans at the Fellows Property, a nearly 2 acre parcel of open space across from Oak St Elementary we acquired back in 2018 (see this December 2018 post for a blast from the past). As proposed, the goals of the park will be the natural preservation, environmental education, and passive recreation – with trails, stormwater management, and keeping several of the large specimen trees. The project is unfunded and will need $1.7M to proceed (and wouldn’t start until 2026 even if funded), so will be among many of the priorities we’ll deliberate in the upcoming budget amendment. I would welcome input on the park plans.

Library: we also received the annual report from the library which is celebrating its 125th anniversary. To preface – the library serves the community in many ways – services and innovative programs beyond traditional reading materials – and of course, the library is more than the numbers. My own family has been loyal patrons between story time, after school programming, summer reading contests, and now users of the teen study rooms. While circulation, attendance, cardholders are ticking up but still below pre-Covid and pre-renovation stats – it’s important to me that we look at data for trends over time to ensure that we’re meeting the needs of the future,and that we’re being good stewards of capital investments and operating budgets. I specifically asked for more data on usage for self checkout, online vs physical materials circulation, and weekend attendance with the expansion of hours we funded in the budget.

Sidewalk: we also heard there was a resolution at 412 W. Broad St with a signed easement allowing the city to construct an accessible sidewalk, with work hopefully beginning within months. This has been an issue that pre-dates my time on City Council, so it’s more than overdue. While this may seem like a small thing when we’re managing much bigger initiatives – we know it matters and have been committed to accessible and safe passages through the city, especially on a high volume pedestrian area like Broad St. I’m also glad we reached a reasonable agreement without using eminent domain.

(3) W&OD 50th Anniversary

We also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the W&OD Trail last weekend with NOVA Parks – the first official ride on the occurred 50 years ago here in Falls Church! We commemorated it with a new sign about the history of the trail and then a bike ride with Bike Falls Church and WABA. All of the official news outlets covered the event so I won’t duplicate here – if you want to read more in depth stories, see the FCNP and Falls Church Independent. I do think the original advocacy by Barbara Hildreth is an inspiring story so worth a read.

Just like how time doesn’t stand still – neither do cities. The W&OD – from rails to trails to dual trails – is the perfect example where something has grown and changed to meet the needs of the community and to meet our responsibility to the next generation.

What’s Coming Up:

Monday, September 16 – City Council Work Session*

Monday, September 23 – City Council Meeting*

Wednesday, October 2 – Ask the Council Office Hours (9 am, City Hall)

Monday, October 7 – City Council Work Session*

*Mondays (except 5th Mondays and holidays) at 7:30 pm. You can access the agenda and livestream here, including recordings of past meetings

Letty’s Office Hours:

Monday, September 30 – Letty’s Office Hours (12-1 pm, Mr Browns Park)

Thursday, October 17 – Letty’s Office Hours (9-10 am, Cafe Kindred)

Thursday, November 14 – Letty’s Office Hours (9-10 am, The Happy Tart)