January 5 – 11, 2017
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I No. 46
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week F.C. Winter Farmers Market Starts Saturday The Falls Church Farmers Market kicks off its shorter, winter hours this Saturday and the City announced that 38 vendors have signed on through March, including two new purveyors. See News Briefs, page 8
Mason Boys Basketball Takes 3rd in Tourney George Mason High School’s varsity boys basketball team pulled off a thrilling third place finish in the seventh annual Joe Cascio Holiday Classic at Falls Church High School over the holiday break.
F.C. Council, School Board Tilt To Phased Plan for New High School Bring on the New Year!
Spreading Costs May Ease Worries About Tax Impact
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
another five years after that. But officials at City Hall told the News-Press Tuesday that the paving effort was simply part of the negotiating process, and that Mill Creek Residential, which is handling the negotiations for the control of the property, is “on top of it.” Yesterday, Amirali Nasserian of Mill Creek told the News-Press
Tuesday’s latest joint meeting of the Falls Church City Council and School Board saw a demonstrable tilt in sentiments toward a phased renovation and construction of the City’s George Mason High School. This approach would enable immediate needs to be met quicker and provide enough new renovation and development activity to carry the school through the next 10 years, plus an upfront cost to taxpayers of less than half what a full new project would cost. With more data now being sought for this option, the two bodies are expected to meet together again before the end of this month to begin making key decisions that will allow the lead times necessary for a referendum to be prepared for the November ballot. While most members of the two bodies wanted to keep the option for construction of a completely new high school on the table for the time being, at a rising cost now at $117 million, there was a lot of attention paid to the phased approach. School Board member Phil Reitinger stated that he doubted there is enough of an appetite for the tax impact of an all-new high school this year, but that a phased approach that would see to the school’s expected rising enrollment up to 1,200 students (with stretching, its capacity is 876 now) carry it through 2025 at a cost of $53 million. This would optimize flexibility and enable the City to retire two major debt obligations in 2022 and 2026, meaning that
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See Sports, page 18
David Brooks: Snapchat Presidency
Normal leaders come up with policy proposals in a certain conventional way. They gather their advisers around them and they debate alternatives. President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t do that. See page 14
Press Pass with The Michael Clem Band Michael Clem moved away from Northern Virginia nearly a decade ago, but he hasn’t been a stranger since relocating to Charlottesville in 2008. And he’ll be coming back to his old hometown this Saturday for a special birthday show at Jammin’ Java in Vienna. See page 25
RINGING IN 2017 IN THE CITY of Falls Church, hundreds of revelers gathered for the Little City’s annual Watch Night celebration last Saturday night filled with live bands, karaoke, rides and more. See more Watch Night photos, page 13. (Photo: J. Michael Whalen)
What’s Up With the Paving Of 7-Eleven Lot on N. West? by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.10-11 Comment......... 14-17 Sports..................18 Calendar.........20-21
Food & Dining......23 Business News....27 Classified Ads......28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Critter Corner.......30
Rumors and online noise and excitement was generated last week when an asphalt paving company was observed working on the parking lot of the busy 7-Eleven store by the intersection of W. Broad and N. West Streets. As the location is one of those that is slated to be vacated to make way for the 4.3-acre Mason
Row project, the paving effort caused some buzz in town speculating about whether or not the parent company of 7-Eleven, the Seven and I Holdings Company of Irving, Texas, would fight to hold onto its current site, sending the Mason Row plans into disarray. Unconfirmed reports are that the company has an option to extend its lease on the location, owned by John Shreve, another five years, with an option to stay