This newsletter is produced by the Rock Spring Civic Association for residents of the Rock Spring neighborhood.

1.  Fire Station No. 8 History and Legacy Working Group: 
The Fire Station No. 8 History and Legacy Working Group is being established and charged to develop and recommend strategies to recognize, emphasize and honor the history and legacy of the Hall’s Hill/High View Park Volunteer Fire Department and Fire Station No. 8. Read the Final Charge.

The working group will submit recommendations by the end of May. This timeline will allow adequate time for the County to review and consider how the recommendations may be incorporated and funded in the design of the station.

All meetings will be held from 7-9 p.m. at Langston Brown Community Center and are open to the public.  See https://projects.arlingtonva.us/projects/fire-station-no-8-history-legacy-working-group/ for meeting dates.

 For more information and future updates about the working group, please visit the Project Page.

2.  Williamsburg Blvd Green Streets Project:  From the County:
The contractor is on schedule and everything should be completed by June 2^nd.  There is some concrete curb work that still needs to be completed at the first location, and therefore some barrels and wood are in place to cover a hole in the median until that work is complete.  This concrete work will be completed at both sites at the same time. Typically the project signs remain in place until the project is fully complete and the project is “Accepted,” in the case that any additional work is necessary.  The repaving and marking is scheduled to be completed in the spring.

3.  Multiple Opportunities to Share your Thoughts and Concerns for the County and APS.

• ·         County CIP Funding Input by March 16:  The County would like your help developing the  10-year Capital Improvement Plans (CIP). Take 5 minutes to share the upgrades or improvements most important to you — the feedback form closes March 16!

• ·        County Budget Input – by April 21  Share your feedback on Arlington’s FY 2019 Proposed Budget which includes a combination of spending reductions and fee and tax increases to close a $20.5-million budget gap.  Your input will be shared with the County Board as they review the proposal before adopting a final budget on April 21:  https://budget.arlingtonva.us/fy-2019-budget-information/   
  

• ·         Arlington Public Schools (APS) Input:  There are several very important initiatives and processes currently underway where your thoughts and comments are needed – whether you’re an APS parent or you don’t have children in the schools.  The APS website has one page, “Engage with APS,” where there are links to all the items where input is needed, as well as many other links such as advisory committees, volunteering with APS, community meetings and events, and much more.  Please take a look at https://www.apsva.us/engage/.

4.  Lee Highway Alliance Petition for Adequate Funding:  The following petition will be sent to the County Board.  If you are interested in signing the petition, contact the Lee Highway Alliance at https://www.leehighwayalliance.com/contact-us.html

Under the FY 2019 Budget, we urge the Arlington County Board to increase funding for the Lee Highway Alliance from $60,500 to $85,000. 

This will allow LHA to successfully operate with a full time Executive Director. 

 

We also urge that the County fully fund and implement the Lee Highway Planning Initiative.   The County promised that the planning effort would start in 2017.

The recently approved Housing Conservation Districts (HCDs) policy makes planning even more urgent. 

 

Each delay results in a missed opportunity to shape revitalization and to increase the quality of life and tax base in Arlington’s last unplanned corridor.

5.  Arlington Children’s School:  Below is the link to an ArlNow article concerning the possibility of The Children’s School moving from the Reed School into the Alpine Restaurant site on Lee Highway, just south of Glebe Road.  https://www.arlnow.com/2018/02/28/the-childrens-school-may-move-to-alpine-restaurant-site/?mc_cid=7aa69bddfe&mc_eid=262b373539

6.  Elementary School Boundaries: APS has gathered community input on elementary school walk zones to support a determination whether to relocate any option or neighborhood elementary schools before considering boundary revisions this Fall. APS is holding a series of meetings on "what we heard" about walk zones for the different elementary schools: the meeting tonight (7 pm at the Education Center) will include Taylor ES, and Thursday's meeting (7 pm at Yorktown HS) will include Discovery, Nottingham and Jamestown. More information about the process and how to provide input is at: https://www.apsva.us/elementary-school-boundary-change/walkzonereview/

7.  Internal Modifications at Yorktown High School: The School Board has approved a design for internal modifications at YHS to add 310 seats beginning in Fall 2018. More information is at: https://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/arlington/Board.nsf/files/AVTS94703736/$file/F-2 Final Design for Yorktown Internal Modifications.pdf

8.  Yorktown Theatre:  March 15 and 16,  7 pm.  March 17, 2pm and 7 pm.
Almost, Maine, by John Cariani is one of the country's most performed high school plays!  General admission tickets can be purchased for $10 at yhstheatre.org or https://tinyurl.com/yhsmaine. Don't miss it!

9.  County Potholes:   To report potholes that need to attention, fill out a report :   https://topics.arlingtonva.us/reportproblem/  The County does a good job of taking care of those reported. 

10.  Pollinator Plant Sales:  Want to improve your yard for local birds and butterflies? Check out the Long Branch Native Plant Sale for a list of great pollinator friendly plants to try. You can pre-order your plants online thru April 24 or attend the one-day sale on May 5 from 1-4 p.m. at Long Branch Nature Center.  See https://parks.arlingtonva.us/native-plant-sale/.  Information on the benefits of planting native plants is included on that site.

11.  Register for Spring Nature Programs and view available activities.

 

 

 

 

To contact the newsletter editors for information or items to share, please email either Judy Hadden  or Joan Traband t